


Spider-Man: Beginning of the End

by thatispunacceptable



Series: Fallen Hero [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Christmas Time, Depressed Tony Stark, Ignoring the Deaths, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Peter Parker Has Issues, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Taking the stuff I like from End Game, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-03-17 20:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 55,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18972451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatispunacceptable/pseuds/thatispunacceptable
Summary: Part 4: After accidentally killing a man in New York, Peter, weighed down by the guilt of failing to live up to Tony's perceived expectations and being a self proclaimed murderer, runs away to Washington D.C. where he keeps a low profile, not wanting to disturb anyones lives. However, with a plan to allow intergalactic persons to take up citizenship on earth, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov and Tony Stark find them selves working in D.C over the Christmas holiday. When strange muggings are thwarted around the city, they suspect that their lost Spider-ling has once again resurfaced and a new, much greater threat is preparing to take over the universe.(This will only make a little bit of sense unless you read the other works. Soz fam.)((But do what you want, I'm not your boss.))





	1. Winter

Peter hated the cold, especially when the cold included a dull, overcast day and wind that he could almost feel in his bones. Walking faster never helped either, it would just make his face burn a little more as the wind nipped at his nose despite the scarf he had wrapped around his neck and pulled up to cover the lower half of his face. That was another thing he hated about winter, needing to bundle up. Right now, he had on so many layers that if he were attacked, he doubted he would actually feel it. He shook his head of these thoughts and pulled his beanie lower onto his face, instinctively ducking as he saw the security camera ahead. Although, it wouldn’t matter too much, he looked very much different from the last time anyone he knew had seen him. He shivered as a gust of wind took him by surprise, lowering his head more, he quickened his steps toward the small office just a few more meters down the road. He was looking forward to being inside, he could almost feel the warmth of the office heater as he anticipated its comfort. He almost ran for the door in anticipation. But, not wanting to draw attention to himself, he kept his steady pace with learned patience as he finally arrived. He pulled the door open and almost wept with joy at the warm air of the small reception area.

“Good morning, Richard!” A lady greeted him from behind the small reception desk.

He pulled off his scarf and his beanie, offering her a wide smile.

“Good morning, Susan.” He replied as he hung the garments up.

He took his eyes off of the woman before him, turning his attention to removing his thick coat. 

“Richard, Elroy wants to see you and Becky in his office as soon as you can get there. Say’s he has a story he wants the two of you to work on together.” Susan informed him, he acrylic nails clicking away at the keyboard as her eyes remained trained on the computer screen just to her right.

Peter frowned a little as he hung up his jacket.

“Why does he need me there? Becky’s the reporter, I just take pictures.” He said, coming forward to lean on the reception desk and look down at Susan who continued typing away.

She shrugged a little and brushed some hair on her shoulder.

“Don’t know. Just said to get both of you. Might be something big.”

Peter studied her for a moment longer. She was older than him, but not old. He had a little trouble placing her age. She reminded him a lot of Pepper, which was a bitter-sweet memory, but she was certainly not the same age as the older woman.

“Did, he, uh, say anything about the last lot of pictures I sent through?” He asked, feeling a little nervous at being called into Elroy’s office.

Susan stopped typing and turned to face him, her elbows resting on the desk.

“Richard. Don’t stress.” She said.

“I-I’m not stressing. I just want to know why he needs me there.” He said a little too quickly as he swiped a long strand of bleached hair out of his face and adjusted his glasses.

Susan studied him for a second.

“Look, Richie. Elroy knows you haven’t been to college, and he’s a good guy. He has a huge soft spot for you, there is no way you’re in trouble. If anything he’s probably calling you in there so you can understand how the company works and how he hands out stories.” She explained.

Peter looked at her for a moment, before letting out a long sigh and nodding. She was right. Elroy was a good man. When he’d arrived in D.C., he’d had only a few hundred dollars on him and was staying at an extremely cheap motel just outside of the city. He’d come looking for jobs and have struck gold when Elroy, who was desperate for photographers, offered him a full-time gig at the company.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably nothing.” He finally said, standing up fully.

“Mm-hmm. I always am.” She said with a humorous chuckle.

Peter watched as she turned back to her computer before he made his way through the small reception area and opened the wooden framed door that led to the office area. He made his way to the large desk that he shared with Becky, one of the more experienced journalists on the team.

He plastered on a small smile as he made his way over to her.

“Morning, Becky!” he said cheerfully.

The woman looked up at him from the iPad she had been reading off, a small smile on her features.

“Morning, Richie.” She greeted affectionately. “Did Susan let you know that Elroy wants to see us?”

Peter nodded slightly as he set his shoulder bag down on the desk and pulled out the laptop that Elroy had kindly provided him with when he had begun working here. 

“Yeah, said she wasn’t sure what it was about.” He said quietly as he settled down in his chair.

He saw her shrug out of the corner of his eye as her eyes went back down to the iPad she held. 

“Who knows. But I hope it’s to give us the Rogers and Romanov story.” She said casually.

Peter chocked on his own spit and coughed violently for a second, causing Becky to look over at him with concern.

“Richie! Are you okay?” She asked, putting down the iPad and rolling her chair closer to him. 

Peter coughed again until he felt his airways clear. He cringed as he felt his face heat and eyes water from the coughing.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He gasped out, giving one final round of coughing. 

Becky frowned at him with an almost motherly concern in her eyes, she opened her mouth to express this concern one more time but was cut off before she could.

“Richard, Rebecca. My office!” Elroy called from a private office near the back of the larger open working space. 

Peter stood quickly, clearing his throat once more as Becky picked up the iPad and open the notes app. The two quickly made their way over to Elroy’s office and settled in the two chairs opposite his desk.

“How is my favourite journalistic team today?” He asked once the two of them had been seated.

Peter loved Elroy, the man seemed to ooze kindness and, despite being surrounded by politics and other manipulative media outlets, had remained focussed on the truth being the main source of their articles. His office almost seemed to be an extension of this, warm and cosy with wooden floors and walls.

“Good!” Becky replied as she made herself comfortable across from him. “Although, I think you might have scared Richie a little by calling him in here with me.”

Peter frowned at her a little, but lowered his head, not wanting to show anything towards the two.

Elroy chuckled a little as he swivelled in his chair and reached a large, dark hand across the desk as a small comforting sign to Peter. 

“Don’t worry, Richie, not in trouble.” He assured him, his warm brown eyes sparkling a little. “I just think you have potential, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to join Rebecca on a big story.”

Peter lifted his head, eyes wide as he looked at the large man before him. He was by no means well-muscled, if anything, he carried a little extra weight. But this only made him appear jollier and kinder to those around him. 

“Oh, um. Well, that’s very kind of you.” Peter said, but he hesitated before he continued. “But, um. I don’t know if I’m ready for a big story.”

Becky and Elroy frowned at him.

“Richie. You always so no to the big stories!” Becky said, turning in her chair to face him a little more.

Peter felt his cheeks heat up a little at this and he once again lowered his head.

“Becky’s right, Richie. You do seem to turn down the big opportunities. Hell, last month you turned down the chance to go to New York and meet Tony Stark!” 

“Yeah, what’s with that!” Becky interjected. “I can think of a million guys your age who would kill for five minutes with Tony Stark!”

Peter bit back the desire to cringe at her words and looked down at his hands instead.

“I just don’t think I’m the best photographer here.” He mumbled.

Elroy laughed a little as he leaned back in his chair.

“Rich, what are you talking about! Sure, you don’t have a degree, but you have a natural talent for this kind of thing! Besides.” He said, his voice becoming serious. “Wish I could have sent you rather than hiring that useless guy who ended up going with you Becky.”

“Mmm. Yeah, Stark hated him. Had to beg him to smile in the picture before he practically threw that guy out of his lab.”

Elroy sighed a little.

“Look, Richie. I know that you’re still new to this, but you’re the best guy I have. The other’s might have experience, but you have an eye for this!”

Peter looked up at the man for a second.

“Richie, I’m sending Becky to report on Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov next week. They’re in town to talk over some inter-galactic citizenship deal. I would really love to send out with Becky, but, if you don’t think you’re ready, then I’ll send one of the other guys. What do you say?”

Peter looked back down at his hands. There was no way he could risk being the one to photograph Steve and Natasha. He bit his lip and shook his head.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I just, you know. Maybe next time?” He asked, raising his head.

Elroy looked him over, a little disappointment showing in his warm eyes.

“It’s okay, Richie. You’re still new.” He said softly. “But one of these day’s you’ll have to bite the bullet and get out there.”

Peter looked up at him, his gratitude showing in his wide eyes.

“Thank you, sir.” He said softly.

The day passed quickly from there, Peter still had a number of photos to edit from the last few stories he had assisted Becky on. He also helped her proof read the articles before sending them through to Elroy for his final stamp of approval. Finally, six p.m. arrived and he quickly made his way home, walking the short journey from the office to his small apartment as quickly as he could.

He had arrived at the store below his second-floor apartment when he heard the sounds of a struggle in an alleyway across the street. He turned quickly and narrowed his eyes, his enhanced vision seeing quite clearly despite the darkness of the evening. He frowned as he looked around the quiet street, ensuring nobody would see his heroics. Quickly he sprinted across the road just as the man began to yank at a small woman’s handbag.

“Hey!” he called out as he approached the entry. “Hey, leave her alone!”

The man turned to him, green eyes blazing in the darkness. 

“Or what?” he taunted, wrenching the bag free from the lady’s hands.

She whimpered and fell to the ground as the man pushed her back.

Peter frowned, deciding not to rick saying too much. He quickly kicked off his sneakers and ripped off his gloves as the man sauntered closer to him. Without waiting further, he sprung up to the wall on the left, then instantly lunged at the man’s middle, taking him out and knocking him to the ground. He groaned below him but continued to fight back.

Frustrated, Peter very carefully punched him in the face, mindful of his strength. The man fell limp in his arms and Peter carefully lowered him to the ground, rolling him onto his side. Before going any further, he put two fingers to his pulse point, and let out a small sigh of relief at the strong pulse beneath his fingers. 

He looked over at the woman who had now pushed herself up from the ground, she was trembling.

“Are you okay? Do you live nearby?” He asked, keeping a knee on the man’s body, but watching the woman carefully.

She nodded, her teeth chattering.

“Would you like me to walk you home?” He offered.

She hesitated for a second before shaking her head.

“N-no. Thanks.”

Peter frowned.

“You sure? I really don’t mind. And I would understand if you wanted someone with you.” He insisted.

She took a deep breath but shook her head once more.

“No, thank you. I only live one more block away.”

Peter watched her for a second, but slowly nodded.

“You live on this street?” He asked softly.

She nodded once again, her arms wrapping around herself as the cold became harder and harder to ignore.

“Okay, well, I’m on this street too. Mind if I just watch and make sure you get inside okay?” He offered.

She gave him a small, shaky smile, but nodded.

“Thank you.” She said quietly, moving to walk past him, almost running.

“Wait!” he called out as she took a few steps down the street. “Your bag!”

He held out the back. Still shaky, she reached out for the bag and grabbed it from him, hesitating before running off again.

He kept a knee on the man as he leaned out into the street to watch as she all but ran down the block before entering a small apartment complex. She turned and waved at him as she opened the door, signalling that she had arrived safely. He waved back, glad that this hadn't turned into a major mess.

He sighed as he looked down at the would-be mugger before pulling out his phone.

“911, what is your emergency.” Came to voice at the other end.

“Um. I’d like to report a mugging.”

 

Tony stood in the dark bedroom in his New York mansion pulling a woolly jumper out of his draw and shoving it on. He hated winter, it was almost Christmas, and despite this being a particularly special Christmas with Morgan, it also reminded him of his parents. Beyond that, he’d been in a mood since summer, ever since Peter had decided that he alone was responsible for the bombings on New York and had vanished right after killing the bastard who had hurt so many people. 

“Tony! May and Happy are here!” Pepper called from the hallway.

He quickly shook himself and adjusted his collar over the edge of the jumper before smoothing a hand over his hair one last time. 

“Tony!” She called again, this time pocking her head through the door way and letting out a laugh when she saw him.

He looked over at her, a little offended.

“What?” He asked, brow creasing a little.

“Who knew Tony Stark would go full Dad mode on us with the sweater.” She giggled.

Tony looked down at his outfit. There was no way he would consider this full dad mode. This sweater was Gucci!

“Hey!” he retorted, but let a smile slip on his face.

She laughed once more and walked fully into the room, adjusting the happy baby in her arms. Morgan kicked and giggled as she saw her father, something that always made Tony momentarily forget his woes.

“Oh hi, princess!” He said, moving to take her from Pepper. “You want to hang out with Daddy while Mummy answers the door?” He asked, ignoring Pepper’s eye roll.

She turned and walked out of the room, marching loudly down the stairs to the wooden entry way of the mansion. He grinned slightly at her dramatics and kissed Morgan softly.

“I can always count on you to get me out of greeting people.” He whispered to her, only to be met with her delighted little laugh.

He chuckled lightly to himself as he heard Pepper’s muffled voice welcome their guests.

“Now,” He said, his tone serious as he sat on his and Pepper’s bed, sitting Morgan in his lap to face him. “You and I need to have a chat.”

She giggled slightly, swaying a little in his hands as he held her in place.

“Daddy is not going to be home this Christmas.” He said, knowing that she didn’t understand him, but feeling the need to explain anyway. “That’s why we’re celebrating tonight, but you don’t get my gift until Christmas morning, even though the rest of us get our gifts tonight, understand?”

She simply lifted her little fist to her mouth, eyes sparkling as she looked up at him.

“I’ll be home as soon as I can and then you and I will spend the rest of the holidays together!” He promised, watching as she flapped her arms a little, another round of giggles escaping her.

He chuckled slightly, lifting her up and planting kisses all over her face, eliciting louder giggles.

“Love you sweetie.” He murmured into her little brow as he stood from the bed, carrying her in his arms down the stairs. 

He could see Pepper chatting with May and Happy, all of them still standing in the entry way. He rolled his eyes a little, seeing the packages Happy held in in his arms, clearly gifts for Morgan.

“Merry Christmas!” He called out as he finished the last few steps.

He received warm smiles from May and happy, both of them coming over to plant kisses on little Morgan. 

“Hi sweetie!” May cooed, allowing Morgan to grab her finger. She turned to Tony and placed and air kiss next to his cheek. “Hey Tony. Thanks for having us.”

He returned her gesture quickly.

“Always glad to have you here, May.” He said sincerely. His eyes drifted over to happy who hovered just behind her. “Good to see you Hap. Merry Christmas.” 

Happy grinned at him and clapped his shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Thanks, boss.” He said with a small chuckle.

The small party did not dwell in the entry way long, but quickly made their way to the small, kitchen table that Tony had prepared earlier under Pepper’s direction. 

“Well, you guys arrived at the perfect time. The food is ready!” Pepper announced as Tony fiddled with Morgan high chair, struggling to hold her and take the tray of at the same time. 

“Want some help?” May asked, placing a small, plain package down and rushing over to him.

“Yep.” He grunted out, allowing her to take Morgan from his arms as he lifted the tray with ease.

She lowered her into the chair as Tony replaced the tray and sat down next to her, skooching his own chair closer so he could feed her throughout the meal. 

“Tony, hun. Want me to get a plate for you?” Pepper asked as she and Happy served up the food at the kitchen island bench, May fluttering behind Happy to ensure he had good, healthy options on his plate.

“Um, yeah. Little miss here might not enjoying the lack of attention if I leave.” He said with a little grin.

Pepper laughed slightly.

“Sounds like someone else I know.” Happy teased, his eyes sparkling a little.

Tony feigned offense and allowed his hand to land on his chest.

“Who? Me? Never!” Tony shot back, eyes wide.

Laughter filled the kitchen, even little Morgan joined in the fun.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side!” Tony exclaimed softly as he smiled at his daughter.

“Tones, hun. You’d die without the spotlight.” Pepper teased gently as she laid a plate before him. “Friday, put on some music.” She said as she walked to get her own plate.

The evening continued, though it was happy and light, no one mentioned the empty seat at the table, not until much, much later in the evening, well after the gifts had been exchanged, and long after Morgan had been put down for the night.

It was well after midnight when May and Happy announced their departure. Pepper and Tony both exchange kisses and hugs with them. As Tony kissed May on the cheek, she grabbed his arm and gave him a knowing look. They could put it off no longer. 

“We need to talk, quickly.” She said to him, almost dragging him back into the kitchen.

He nodded to Pepper and Happy as the two gave worried, but knowing looks, and followed May into the now empty and still room. As he followed, she picked up a plain, brown bag. He frowned, knowing exactly what was inside. He felt his heart drop a little at the face May tried to conceal as she picked it up and laid it on the kitchen table, pushing it slightly toward him. She hesitated, but evenly met his eyes. 

“Tony. Take this with you to D.C.” She said, eyes wide and bright with unshed tears.

He bit his lip and looked down at the table, his fingers playing with the back of the empty chair.

“May,” He said, looking at her earnestly, “I don’t know where he is. I stopped tracking him outside of the suit.”

“But he’s not here, not in New York.” She whispered, stepping closer.

“We don’t know that. New York is a big place!” He countered.

“Please!” She pleaded. “If he’s here there is another suit we can give him. But if you find him-“ She was cut off by her own sob.

He closed his eyes and shook his head before looking back at her.

“Okay.” He said quietly. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll take it with me.” 

She bit her lip slightly before walking around to pull him into a tight embrace.

“Thankyou.” She said.

Tony frowned, but hesitantly returned her hug.

“I’ll try.” Was all he could promise. 

 

Steve had a love hate relationship with winter. He hated the cold, but he loved Christmas, and right now, as he walked toward his apartment door, he found himself smiling at the little decorations his neighbours had put up around their entries. He turned as he heard quick footsteps behind him, his heart clenched a little at the sight of Sarah rushing towards her door, pale and shaky. 

“Sarah. You okay?” He asked, pausing outside his own door, the key in his hand.

She looked over at him, her mouth moving uselessly for a second. He put his key away and moved closer.

“What’s happened?” He asked, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She bit her lip and looked up at him.

“A guy tried to mug me.” She whispered.

Steve frowned, and rubbed his thumb over her shoulder gently.

“Are you okay?” He asked in a comforting manner.

She nodded quickly, but sniffed loudly despite herself.

“Yeah, uh. Some kid saved me.” She whispered. “Took his shoes off and climbed a wall to get a good shot at the guy.”

Steve stepped back slightly, his eyes widening.

“What did the kid look like?” He asked quickly.

She bit her lip again and shook her head.

“I’m not sure, sorry. I was so scared! But he was young and skinny. Bright blond hair.”

Steve frowned, his hope dying away a little.

“You gonna be okay?” He asked one last time as she finally opened her door.

She nodded, still a little shaky.

“Yeah.”

Steve stepped back towards his own door.

“Just let me know if you need anything!” He said as she gave him a final nod and quite thank you before locking herself in her apartment. 

Steve hesitated a moment before opening his own door and walking in. He took a moment to think once he was inside his own warm apartment before deciding the best course of action. Pulling out his phone, he dialled the too little used number and, as he expected, found himself being sent straight to voicemail.

“Hey, Tony. Look, don’t get your hopes up. But I think I’ve got something on the kid.”


	2. A Brief Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've been posting a little slower than usual. I love writing to help myself relax, the problem is finding the time!  
> Thank you to everyone who has left those kind comments.  
> Stay tuned for more over the next few days. :)

Christmas was quickly approaching, something that made Peter question his choice to stay away from New York all the more. Everywhere he went he saw happy families preparing to celebrate together, he saw couples on dates and best friends hanging out. All of this made him feel a little blue as the calendar showed only four days until Christmas. And so, when he looked down at his phone that morning to see that Elroy was calling him, he jumped to answer, hoping for some extra work to keep his mind off of his woes.

“Good morning, boss!” He said, a little too excited of the prospect of getting out of his cramped apartment and keeping his mind occupied.

“Richie, glad to hear some excitement from someone!” Elroy greeted him from the other end of the line, a warm chuckle in his voice. “When I called Becky she nearly took my head off!”

Peter laughed slightly, making a pretty accurate guess as to just how sassy Becky could become when called in to work during the holidays.

“Well, I’m happy to hear from you. I’m pretty bored.” He admitted, but cringed instantly at his choice of words.

Elroy laughed slightly, his warm humour helping Peter relax a little.

“Good to hear, Richie. Look, I have a big last minute story for you and Becky to tackle. You want in?”

Peter frowned a little. Normally when Elroy talked about big stories, they usually involved former avengers or some famous person that would surely have connections to Mr. Stark.

“Um, maybe?” He said quietly. “What is it?”

“I think you’ll like this one. No one famous, so not too much pressure on you, but I would really love for you to take this one. It’ll be good for you.” Elroy began. “Bunch of muggings happening around the city over the last week. But, the crazy thing is, all of the muggers have the exact same description, even though some muggings happened at exactly the same time.”

“Woah!” Peter exclaimed quietly. He frowned a little and walked over to his living room window, looking down on the alleyway across the street.

“Yeah, crazy. You think you can handle it?” Elroy asked.

Peter thought for a moment. He was definitely intrigued, wondering if any of these were connected to the mugging he had stopped only one short week ago. Besides, he thought, there was no one connected to the avengers of Mr. Stark that he was aware of. He smiled a little.

“Yeah, uh. That, uh, sounds great!” He finally said.

He heard Elroy sigh in relief.

“Good! I didn’t want to call anyone else, I was hoping you’d be excited for it!”

“Yeah, thanks for thinking of me!” Peter said.

“No worries, oh, and Richie?” Elroy said, pausing, waiting for his response.

“Yeah, Elroy?”

“I really believe in you; I think one day you could be a great photo journalist. So, take this opportunity to learn from Becky. Take notes on how she interviews, and even ask your own questions.”

Peter felt his cheeks warm a little at the compliment.

“Thanks.” He muttered.

“Okay, so meet Becky at the Sixth District Station at one. You got it?”

“Yep! Thanks!” He said quickly.

Elroy chuckled slightly.

“Okay, kid. Have fun, and do your best. I’ll see you both after Christmas.” Elroy finished, allowing Peter to respond quickly before hanging up.

Peter grinned to himself, he wouldn’t be stuck in this little apartment all day! He looked at his watch, he had plenty of time to get there, but in eagerness to get out, he quickly threw on his winter gear and stuffed his camera in his bag before heading out to the precinct.

 

The ride there was not at all eventful, although, he was grateful that the company covered transportation costs as he hoped out of his Uber a few blocks away from the station. He jumped out of the car, and quickly adjusted his coat around him and re-set his glasses as they had begun to slide down his nose a little during the ride over. He took his camera out of his bag and quickly made his way towards the station. Once outside, he managed to take a few pictures of the Stations exterior before a familiar voice came behind him. He felt his heart beating faster and faster as he ducked his head, cursing himself for leaving his beanie at home. He risked a glance over his shoulder as he saw Steve Rogers walking on the other side of the street. He quickly ducked behind a post office box, pretending to tie his shoe lace as his super hearing picked up a little part of the conversation. 

“No, I didn’t talk to him.” He was saying to someone on the other end, who, despite Peter’s best efforts, remained only a murmur due to the other sounds around him.

Peter peaked out from behind the box, cursing a little as he saw the man stop at the traffic lights, obviously about to cross over to his side of the road. He ducked his head, busying himself with his shoe, cringing as the lights changed, allowing the pedestrians to cross.

“Well, that’s all good in theory, but until you get here you won’t know. Listen, Nat and I have been trying to convince him for months, but nothing we do seems to work. Listen, your input is invaluable. One word from you could very well change the outcome.” He was saying, his voice growing louder as he walked closer to Peter.

Peter looked at the side of the post office box as he walked past, holding his breath as so though that would help him remain unseen. He heard the voice on the other end of the phone, though, not clearly enough to identify the caller.

“Listen, Tony. I promise you, you won’t need to be here much longer. Just meet with him and then you’ll be home just after Christmas. It’s only one extra meeting. Please.” Steve begged.

Peter gasped audibly as he heard Steve identify the caller, something he immediately regretted doing as he remembered he was not the only one with enhanced hearing. Realising his error, he quickly stood and, keeping his head down, walked towards the station. He had to walk past Steve to get there, however, the man had stopped to look around him when Peter had gasped. 

Peter creased his brow, almost ducking in an attempt to keep the captain in his peripheral vision. He frowned as he turned his head around, unable to see the man. Confused, he stood up fully and turned around, only to look directly into the other man’s stare. He froze as he saw a look of recognition flicker across Steve’s face. He felt his breathing pick up as he watched Steve lower his phone, not ending his call with Mr. Stark, the man’s eye’s narrowed as he studied Peter and walked closer, ignoring the stares of the people around him, all excited to see Captain America out on the streets of D.C.,

“Peter?” He asked softly, his voice easily picked up by Peter despite the noise around him.

Peter felt frozen in his spot, he was in the middle of the walkway, many pedestrians glaring at him as they walked around him. But he couldn’t help it, he had not been ready for an encounter like this to happen today.

He opened his mouth a little, no noise came out.

Steve walked forward until he was only a few feet away, but seemed to remember the call he was on without taking his eyes off of Peter.

“Tony, I’ll call you back.” He said and promptly ended to call, cutting of Mr. Stark’s muffled protests. 

Peter breathed heavily, ready to run away. He opened his mouth again to make an excuse, a reason, anything, when another voice cut through.

“Richie?” Came Becky’s voice, much to his relief. He left out a sigh of relief as he turned, seeing the older woman walking quickly towards him. “Richie! You’re here early! I was so surprised you said yes to this! Elroy told me you sounded excited.”

Peter flicked his eye’s back over to Steve who had narrowed his, looking between the approaching woman and himself.

“Oh, wow! Captain America!” She exclaimed quietly, her eye’s widening as she saw who was standing in front of Peter. She quickly schooled her features to her usual professionalism and reached out a hand to the other man, obviously assuming the two men had been in a conversation. “It’s an honour to meet you. I’m Rebecca, I work with Richard here. I’ll be interviewing yourself and Ms. Romanov in the new year.” She said, looking up at Steve.

Steve studied her for a second before extending his own hand and shaking hers.

“A pleasure.” He said, eye’s flicking back to Peter. “And, sorry. Richard, was it?” He asked, his tone a little off.

Peter swallowed heavily, but nodded slightly.

“Aw, Richie, are you star struck?” Becky teased him lightly, keeping her voice low, oblivious to Steve’s enhanced abilities. 

Peter looked away from Steve and over to Becky.

“Uh, um. Yeah.” He said, turning back to Steve. “Sorry.” He said.

Steve looked at him for a moment longer, his expression unreadable as he shoved his phone into his suit pocket.

“What is it that you do… Richard?” He asked, eyes still narrow.

Peter opened his mouth, a small, useless sound coming out, however, Becky stepped in once again.

“Richard is a photographer! He’s the best one we have, even though he hasn’t even been to college. Can you believe that!” She said, her obvious pride for Peter showing as she all but sung his praises.

Peter lowered his head, cheeks warming up.

“Wow. No college.” Steve murmured. “How long you been working there?”

“Almost six months, isn’t that right, Richie?” Becky answered once again.

“You grow up around here?” Steve asked lowly.

Peter winced, he would recognise that tone anywhere, the one Cap used during interrogations.

He felt Becky nudge his arm slightly. He glanced over at her, before risking a look at Cap. He quickly lowered his gaze again as he saw the anger burning in the Captains eyes.

“Um, yes.” He said, needing to keep lie consistent, especially with Becky present.

“You sure, kid?” Steve asked. “’Cause that accent sounds an awful lot like you’ve grown up in Queens.”

“That’s what we say as well!” Becky un-hepfully supplied. “But, you know. Kid’s these day’s. Pick up accents from the T.V.”

Steve gave her short smile and was about to say something else when Becky once again, saved Peter.

“Oh, shit. Richie, look at the time.” She looked back at Steve. “Mr. Rogers, it was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to our interview next week. Enjoy your Christmas!” She said with a warm smile.

Steve opened his, mouth as though to protest, but Becky had grabbed Peter’s arm and was practically dragging him away.

“Wow. I can see why you don’t like big cases. You froze!” She said with a chuckle.

Peter stared at her as she basically dragged him down the street, not before giving Cap one final glance. He watched as the man retrieved his phone and put it back to his ear.

“Yeah, sorry Tony. Look, I’ve got news for you.” He was saying, his voice diminishing as Peter and Becky finally found themselves outside of the station.

Peter swallowed heavily, forcing his eyes on the doors in front of him. His time in hiding was up.


	3. Mark Ten

“Ah, Good morning Ms. Anderson! Glad you could make it to my office on such short notice.” The police captain said, standing to greet Becca and Peter as the two walked through the door and into the small room.

Becca walked forward confidently, her hand out stretched to shake the Captains.

“Captain Witts. A pleasure to meet you.” She said as the shook hands. She took her hand back and turned to Peter, gesturing for him to come forward.

The Captain offered her a practised smile, one that did not quite reach his eyes. Peter couldn’t help but notice how tired the man looked, his wrinkled skin and white hair doing no favours to hiding his weariness. He stepped forward, forcing a smile of his own and willing his hands to stop shaking from his earlier encounter with Steve.

“Captain. This is Richard Turner. He’ll be assisting me with the interview today and taking a few pictures around the station as you had requested.”

The captain turned to him, offering Peter a small, stiff smile and offering a polite handshake. Peter quickly accepted this. The older man sat back down in his chair behind the wide desk, gesturing for Peter and Becca to follow suite in two chairs on the other side of his desk. The man began speaking before Becca had even fully pulled out her iPad to take notes.

“I appreciate the two of you coming in at such short notice. I know you’d both much rather be with friends and family, but this is an issue that I feel the community should be made aware of.” He began, eyes looking between Peter and Becca as he spoke, giving them both equal amounts of attention.

Peter nodded, wanting the man to know that he was listening and eager to hear his words. He couldn’t explain why, but he felt an instant respect for this man. Something about him spoke of wisdom and authority, not the kind that one would simply garner after a life of mediocrity, but the kind that one learns through self-sacrifice and service. 

Peter watched as Becca pushed some arrant hair behind her ear. She leaned forward, seeming to also be eager to hear what the Captain had to say, fingers hovering above her iPad, ready to type away at a moment’s notice. Peter noticed a few questions written out at the top. 

“Of course, captain.” She said seriously, “Elrond is a huge believer in protecting the community, he wouldn’t hesitate to take this story himself if no one was available.”

Captain Witts smiled once again, a real smile this time. Once that lit his eyes a little as he huffed out a small chuckle.

“Ah, yes. Elrond.” He said fondly, leaning back into his chair. “The community is in his debt. He’s done quite a lot over the past few years to help us engage with those around us. We’re very grateful for him.”

Becca returned his smile with a warm one of her own.

“He is a good man.” She agreed.

Peter nodded, humming his own agreement. 

“Now.” The captain said, his face becoming serious once again as his wise eyes looked between the two of them. “We have on our hands, a case that we believe the community should be aware of. 

He paused, taking a moment to open a file on his desk. Peter resisted the urge to lean forward and peak into the captains file.

“Just over a week ago we brought in a mugger, or, would-be-mugger. Mark Davis. Or, that’s what he told us his name was anyway.” He paused, looking at Peter as he slid over a photo of the man.

Peter gasped, this was the same man he had tackled in the alleyway across from his apartment. He picked up the photo, wanting to be sure before looking back at the captain, who had a concerned look upon his face.

“You recognise him, son?” He asked gently.

Peter nodded slightly, placing the photo back gently.

“Uh, yeah.” He said quietly, noticing the way Becca whipped her head around to look at him, concern on her face. “He, uh, tried to mug a lady near my house. But, I guess I made some noise and scared him off.”

Becca leaned over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her brows knitting together.

“Richie, I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell us about this?” She asked softly.

Peter shrugged slightly, lowering his eye to where his hands were now placed in his lap.

“I didn’t really do much, just scared him off I guess.” He muttered, his cheeks warming under the heavy stares of Becca and Captain Witts.

“You did well, son.” Captain Witts said firmly, retrieving the picture to slide it over to Becca so she could also look. “He’s a dangerous man. He’s beaten several women over the last few days. Thankfully, we’ve had no reports of sexual assault. He seems more focused on bags and wallets.” 

Becca frowned slightly, pausing her typing and giving the Captain a curious look.

“Captain Witts. I know that this is something that should be brought to the attention of the community, however, I’m not sure a simple mugger requires a journalist and a photographer.” She paused, almost hesitating before she powered on. “Is there something more to this case that makes you think it more important than others?”

Captains Witts frowned deeply, and nodded with a small sigh.

“Unfortunately, yes.” He said. “It seems that this is a case most unusual, almost, it seems, as though it was ripped straight from the pages of Sherlock Holmes rather than real life.”

Peter sat up straighter, eager to hear how much more interesting this case would become.

“It would appear that Mark Davis is one of many.” The Captain stated.

“You mean like a gang?” Peter asked quickly, not quite able to hide the curiosity from his tone.

The Captain shook his head,

“Not quite. You see, we still have Davis in custody. However, last night, another station across the city also brought in a mugger under the name Mark Davis.” He said.

Peter frowned, his brain quickly jumping ahead.

“Did they take a picture of this Mark?” he asked, leaning forward.

Becca gave him an odd look, but seemed content enough to allow him the chance to ask a few questions. 

“Yes.” The Captain answerd.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before sliding another photo from the file towards Peter. 

Peter huffed slightly, his mind racing around him.

“How can this be!” he exclaimed. “You have him in custody! There is now way he could have committed another crime across the city.”

The captain nodded once more.

“And you see our predicament.” He said quietly. “This man is the second of ten who have been either seen, caught or described over the last two weeks.”

“Wha- Ten!” Becca exclaimed.

“Yes, Ms. Anderson. Ten.” The captain said a little gruffly, “This is why it is of the utmost importance that we make the community aware of this group or individual. We don’t really know.”

“Super-powered?” Becca asked.

The captain let out a humoured huff and leaned back slightly.

“Who knows! These day’s there are so many super powered kid’s running around it’s hard to keep track of them all. They’re not a nuisance until they start breaking the law though.” He said, before leaning forward once more. “That’s another thing we want to make sure of. There’s been a number of protests against mutants recently, despite Xavier’s school. But we want any mutants to understand that we aren’t after them, we just want to keep the community safe. If this induvial is using mutant powers, he will still receive the same fair treatment that my officers would show toward any other individual.”

Peter sat dumbly for a second. He wasn’t a mutant himself, not having the gene, but he did have powers that would cause a number to raise eyebrows.

“Um, Captain Witts, sir.” He began, blushing slightly as the Captain looked at him. “If he is a mutant, like you suggest, how do you intend to get him?”

The Captain smiled at his question.

“Excellent question, son.” He said, then looked at Becca. “This one is good. Speaks his mind and asks questions respectfully. Feel free to let Elrond know that I’ll be doing interviews with yourself and him from now on.”

Peter bit his lip slightly, a little embarrassed by such high praise. 

 

“Over the next few day’s I’ll be meeting with a few people who have experience with mutants and super powered individuals. Tony Stark himself will be arriving here in D.C., to go over the inter-galactic citizenship deal with Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov. He’ll be consulting us given he’s had experience with the, uh, what was he called.” He paused for a moment, clearly trying to dig up a name. “Ah, yes. Spider-Man!” 

Peter felt his jaw stiffen instinctively and became quite tense in his chair.

“Not only that, but he’s worked with Captain Roger’s for a number of years meaning he’s been in close proximity of two enhance individuals.”

Becca hummed slightly.

“I don’t think it was ever confirmed if Spider-Man was enhanced or a mutant.” She said quietly, typing away at her notes.

“Pretty sure he’s enhanced.” Peter chocked out quickly without thinking.

Becca and the Captain turned to stare at him, waiting for him to explain his knowledge. He had nothing, nothing he could do other than back down.

“But, you know, it’s just a rumour I heard. I wouldn’t know.” He muttered, running a hand through his hair absent-mindedly. 

The Captain chuckled a little.

“It always makes me smile a little watching you kid’s cheering each other on. In my day, we had all the old folk telling us what we should and shouldn’t do. But you young-ins have yourselves to admire. Those avengers, no matter what people, say, they’re damn heroes. Put my generation to shame.” He said with a gentle smile in Peter’s direction.

Pete had no idea what to say, and so sat with his mouth hanging open a little, leading to the Captain chuckling a little louder.

“Now.” He said, his voice indicating that this would be the end of their time together. “You’ll have to excuse me, after we take some pictures. I have a number of detectives I need to prep in order to figure out what in the hell is going on.”


	4. Tension

Tony winced as a strong breeze rushed across the tarmac, the cold creeping in despite the layers he wore as he descended the stairs of his private aircraft to where Steve and Natasha waited for him, both bundled up against the cold winter. He smiled warmly at Natasha, as he approached. Despite their rocky start, she was the one he had found he could depend upon for support, even though she had betrayed him in Germany. He looked over and meet Steve’s almost stern gaze, and frowned a little. The two of them had come a long way over the last few years, however, they still had their occasional disagreements, their most recent phone call being an excellent example of this. He quickly looked away from Steve and focussed on greeting Nat with a friendly kiss on the cheek and a warm embrace.

“Good to see you Nat.” He said softly, a small smile playing on his face.

She grinned at him.

“You too, boss.”

Tony stepped back from her and turned to Steve, extending a hand to him, one that was accepted a little too quickly.

“Good to see you, Cap.” He continued, not bothering to hide any emotion from him. He knew it was futile, Nat could read them both as though they were broadcasting their emotions straight into her head.

Cap seemed to force a small, polite smile as they shook hands.

“You too, Stark.” He returned, holding Tony’s stare.

Not wanting to be the first to back down, Tony held his own, even narrowing his eyes a little as the two continued to shake hands. 

“You two gonna get it on now, or what?” Nat broke in.

Tony rolled his eyes and quickly shoved his hands in his pockets, sending a not too friendly glare at Nat just as the first drop of rain hit his cheek, causing him to flinch slightly.

“Can’t. You’re here, it would be inappropriate.” He quipped as he shoved past Steve on his way to the small, private terminal just a few meters away.

He heard Steve sputter slightly as he walked past and smirked to himself, feeling a little victorious.

“I don’t mind.” Nat joked back as she caught up to Tony, matching his strides. 

“Nat!” Steve exclaimed.

“Oh calm down Capsicle! I’m married now.” He said with some exasperation, waving his left hand up as proof as they arrived at the terminal doors just as a few heavy rain drops fell around them. They hurried inside and quickly made their way through the building. “Besides, you’re not my type.”

Nat chuckled slightly and punched his arm. He didn’t have to look in her direction to see the teasing smile on her face.

“Oh, Mr. Stark! Do tell, what is your type!”

Tony chuckled a little to himself. 

“Powerful red-heads who could technically fire me.” He replied, a fond smile creeping onto his face despite his desire to remain stern in front of the Captain. A sudden thought popped into his mind and he spun around, walking backwards slightly as he looked at Nat, purposefully ignoring Steve for a moment. “You’ve seen Morgie, right?”

Nat shook her head as the three walked towards the Terminal exit. She could already see the black limousine that awaited them through the water streaked doors of the terminal. She frowned, she had not noticed how quickly the rain had begun to fall. 

“I can’t believe that. We’ll have to remedy this immediately!” He said quickly, spinning around once again as he arrived at the doors, pushing them open dramatically and running through the rain to the waiting car. 

Nat smiled after him fondly, about to follow him to the car when Steve grabbed her wrist, pulling her back slightly. She frowned, looking up at him as the two stood in the open doorway of the terminal. She creased her brow a little, wanting Steve to hurry up and say what he needed to say so she could get into the warmth of the waiting car.

“What the hell was that about?” He all but hissed, his eyes slightly narrowed.

She raised a brow slightly, not quite following him as she pulled her wrist free from his grasp.

“Wha-“

“Your joke!” He continued.

Nat gaped up at him, eye’s narrowing slightly.

“It was just a joke!” She whispered back, eyes darting to the open door of the waiting car. She knew Tony couldn’t hear them, but she was not willing to risk it. 

“An inappropriate one.” He hissed.

“Seriously, Steve! You’re really getting pissy about that?”

“You know that we don’t have the best friendship any more. Jokes like that make it a thousand times worse!”

“No, they don’t! They’re exactly the kind of humour that Tony likes! Didn’t you notice how he relaxed afterwards! You told me to make sure things didn’t get tense, that’s exactly what I was doing.”

“Right! How would you feel if I joked about you and Stark?” He replied, his voice rising to just slightly above a whisper.

She rolled her eyes dramatically.

“I wouldn’t care. I just wanted to avoid the two of you starting off this trip with a fight.” She argued back. “Besides, I thought you two got over everything after the whole de-serum thing.”

Steve stood up straighter and let out a small sigh.

“Yeah, we did. And we were even pretty close for a while after. I guess we just lost touch after a few months.”

Nat frowned a little and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

“Well, make sure you sit down and talk with him properly at some point. He doesn’t have that many people in his life. He could definitely use another friend. You getting wound up every time someone makes a joke isn’t going to help either of you.”

Steve nodded slightly and let out a resigned sigh. He looked out at the car that was still waiting for them, just in time to see Tony stick his face out of the open door.

“We’re coming!” He called out before Tony could even open his mouth.

He bit back a chuckle as Tony rolled his eyes and slipped back into the car.

Nat looked up at him, a little worry showing in her eyes.

“What?” He asked, pulling his jacket a little tighter around himself.

She hesitated a second before responding, sounding a little clipped when she did.

“Just remember what he’s given up to be here. So go easy on him.” She said.

Nat allowed no space for him to reply, instead, she quickly held her hand out to shield her face and jogged lightly over to the waiting car. Steve stood in the doorway a moment longer, processing her words and watching her run. After another moment, he followed her over and nearly dove into the car, pulling the door shut behind him.

He looked over at Nat, who sat next to Tony, the two of them across from where Steve situated himself, essentially being driven backwards.

As soon as they were all in the car, Tony pulled out his phone and shuffled closer to Nat.

“Want to see some pictures of the kid?” He asked, eyes bright and a genuine smile spread across his face.

Nat felt her own smile return as she leaned over slightly to look at the phone.

“You know I do. How old is she now anyways?”

“Six months! And, she can sit up all by herself, and, last week she started crawling around!” He beamed proudly, scrolling through a few pictures.

Steve leaned forward, scowling a little. Tony pretended to ignore it, he knew that Steve felt left out, but he wasn’t in the mood to indulge in Cap’s dramatics. This was a sentiment not shared by Nat.

“You want to see the pics, Steve?” She asked, grabbing Tony’s phone from his hand and jumping over the Steve’s side, scooting over so they were side-by-side. She swiped her thumb over the screen and Tony watched as goofy smiles covered both of their faces. “Aw, that one’s adorable! She’s dressed like a bear!”

Tony chuckled a little, feeling a bit more at ease despite that fact that it was overwhelmingly obvious what Nat was trying to do.

“Yeah, we dressed her up for Halloween.” He said with a fond smile.

Steve smiled gently as Nat scrolled through a few more Halloween pictures. He looked over at Tony and sent the man a small, apologetic smile.

“She’s a cute kid.” He said quietly.

Tony chuckled slightly and reached out, taking his phone back from Nat. He quickly locked it and pushed it back in his pocket.

“Yeah, takes after her Mum. Although, we were going to do a family outfit, but it just didn’t work out.” He said wistfully.

“What were you planning?” Steve asked, sounding almost cautious in his questioning. 

“Oh, Goldilocks and the three bears.” He said with a said chuckle, his eyes beginning to dart around the car. He cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. “Um, Pete, Morgie and I were meant to be bears. Pep was gonna be Goldie locks.” He said, running his hand through his hair.

Steve sat back in his chair, wincing slightly.

“Sorry.” He said quietly, lowering his own eyes for a second.

Nat leaned forward slightly and reached over to rest a comforting hand on Tony’s knee.

“We’ll find him, Tony. You know that, right?” She assured him gently, holding his gaze for a second.

Tony nodded before he cleared his throat and sat up straight, adjusting his suit jacket absentmindedly. He had spoken with Steve only the day before regarding Peter, the other man had reportedly seen and interacted with him. However, no matter how eager he was to see the kid, he knew that many others required his attentions. He would have to push this one thing aside for just a little while. 

“So, Cap. You spoken with Quill or Rocket yet?” He asked as he slid along the seat and opened a small wall compartment in the side of the car, pulling out a Stark pad and immediately typing away at it.

Cap watched him for a second, as though trying to assess Tony’s sudden mood and conversational jumps.

“Not recently. I thought we could speak with them together, that way we’re all on the same page.” He said softly.

Tony grunted slightly as he typed away at the pad, he looked over at the window slightly and then pressed a few display buttons. The window became opaque and a small display appeared, turning the window into and makeshift screen. Nat nudged Steve to move further down the seat so that she would not be required to turn awkwardly to see the screen. Tony lounged back on his seat, even throwing his legs out to stretch.

“Friday, call Quill. Let him know the three of us are together.” Tony said distractedly as he typed away on the pad.

“Will do. Calling: Flash Gordon.”

Steve and Nat whipped their heads around to look at Tony, giving him confused and questioning looks before sharing a look of their own and shrugging off the unusual nickname.

Quill and Rocket appeared on the makeshift screen, sitting side-by-side in the Benatar, apparently bickering between themselves before Quill noticed that they were on screen.

“Hey guys!” He greeted, elbowing Rocket slightly, receiving a dramatic eye roll from the smaller creature. “Good to finally hear from yous. We were getting worried!”

Cap sent him a polite smile.  
“Star-Lord, Rocket. It’s good to see you both.” He greeted.

“Captain America.” Quill sputtered. “I still can’t get over the fact that you’re real. I remember when I was a kid and we learned about you in school. You know, before I got taken.”

Steve gave him a tight smile as Nat covered her own amused grin with her hand. Tony rolled his eyes a little, but allowed the other man to continue on in his star struck ways.

“You know, when I was a kid my Mum gave me some Captain America playing cards. I’m pretty sure I have them around here somewhere.” He said, then turned in his seat as though he were really about to begin digging around the ship to find said cards. 

Rocket looked at Tony and let out an exasperated sigh. 

“That’s okay.” Steve said quickly, holding up a hand in a small attempt to keep their conversation on track. “I believe you.”

Quill stopped, looking a little embarrassed as he turned back to the camera.

“I’ll find them later.” He mumbled to himself before looking at the other two occupants of the car. “Hey Nat.” He said with a small nod before his eyes travelled over to Tony. “Mr. Not-Howard.” He said.

Tony snapped up, eye’s hardening immediately.

“What did you just call me?” He almost hissed.

“Woah, woah, woah!” Rocket intervened as Quill’s expression turned from amusement to one of pure shock. Rocket put his small paw on Quill’s arm and stretched out a hand to Tony, as though he could reach through the screen.

“Stark, Quill has no idea about what an ass-hole Howard was.” He said authoritatively. 

Tony moved his jaw a little, eyes narrowed before deciding to take Rocket at his word.

“Yeah, sorry dude.” Quill said, still sounding a little taken aback. “You just look like him, and, you know, he was pretty famous when I was around.”

Tony felt as though every single muscle in him was about to snap. He clutched the Stark pad in his hands a little tighter as he glared at Quill.

“Yeah, well, not him. So, get that into your head real quick otherwise I won’t be helping you out.” He said

Quill studied him through the screen for a second before nodding slightly.

“Sorry man.” He apologised gently.

Tony looked back down at the pad in front of him and once again slouched against the car walls, forcing himself to at least appear relaxed around his co-workers. The pad did not hold any crucial information, but he could not find it in himself to look at the other man just yet. He kept his eyes down as the other’s exchanged small pleasantries, Rocket and Nat taking a few minutes to catch up on each other’s lives. He kept his eyes down and pretended to be busy until he heard Nat pointedly clear her throat. He looked over at her as she nodded at him.

“Tony, want to update us on where you’re at with the citizenship deal?” She asked.

Tony sat up quickly and threw the pad casually onto the seat next to him.

“Well,” He began, glancing over at Steve as he began. “Cap here has done most of the heavy lifting. My end has just been a lot of fending off the feds.”

Steve narrowed his eyes slightly, but nodded.

“Problems?” Rocket asked.

Tony looked at Steve again, hesitating to say anything that would make them feel as though they would not be welcome on earth. Fortunately, Steve spoke for him.

“It’s fair to say that Earth has not had a great history with alien beings. Most of our notable experiences have left notable amounts of destruction. Even when Thor first arrived, he levelled a small town.” He explained, glancing over at Tony before directing the rest of his conversation to the screen. “The Thanos situation has definitely not helped.”

Nat jumped in at that moment, sensing Quill and Rockets unease at being such an inconvenience to them.

“We think we can figure something out though. That’s what Tony is working on.” She glanced over at the man in question as she powered on. “A lot of the concern has been about how we would handle you if you turned against earth. So, unfortunately, they’ve required us to have, well, contingencies.”

“Wait, what?” Quill jumped in, taken aback by this news. “What do you mean contingencies, we would never hurt earth. We were both there to help fight Thanos!”

“A lot of people were there to help fight Thanos.” Tony agreed as he continued to lounge back. “He had a lot of enemies. But just because you have a common enemy does not mean you have a reliable ally.”

Steve nodded in agreement, and hid his surprise at hearing such wise words from Tony.

“Stark is right. We know that you’re no threat, but our leaders do not know you like us. And, unfortunately, our leaders are not always reasonable.” He said, keeping his voice even.

Rocket sighed, not hiding his disappointment.

“Stark, what contingencies did you have in mind?” He asked.

Tony sat forward. He enjoyed speaking with Rocket, although the two rarely got the chance to call each other. They were kindred spirits, both too smart for their own good, and both too broken to see their own potential. 

“Sending it to you right now.” He muttered, picking up the pad once again and allowing his fingers to fly over the screen. “Let me know once you get it.”

Steve looked over at him, trying not to be obvious, but Tony could see him trying to catch a glimpse of the designs on the screen. Unconsciously, he turned the pad slightly to hide it from his view.

“Got it.” Rocket confirmed after a few minutes. “Woah! That’s some powerful stuff you’re working on there!” He said, eyes bulging slightly. “Pretty good for a human.” He finished jokingly.

Tony rolled his eyes in fond exasperation as he sat forward, eager to explain his design to Rocket, and to the others.

“I am a genius across the galaxy, not just earth.” Tony quipped, a small smile re-appearing. “I was on Titan remember.”

Quill looked between the two, a little confused.

“Clearly I’ve missed something. When did you two become friends?” He asked.

“This is insane, Stark!” Rocket continued, ignoring Quill completely.

Steve sat forward in his chair, exchanging a worried look with Nat, one that once again, did not slip past Tony. He looked at the two of them.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He said quickly. “This isn’t an Ultron repeat. It’s not going to come to life.”

“Tony.” Nat began softly, “We’re not accusing you of that. We’re just worried.”

Steve nodded slightly and clasped his hands between his legs.

“You have a tendency to go overboard.” Steve said quietly, his body tense as he waited for Tony to pounce on him for those words.

Tony simply looked between the two of them, feeling defensive at their apparent lack of trust. Now was not the time, however. So, with a simple sigh of defeat, he waved his hand and a hologram appeared between the two seats, displaying his design. Rocket mirrored this, allowing a hologram to appear in the cabin of the Benatar so Quill could also take in the design.

The three studied the holograms, confusion written all over their faces. Quill was the first to crack.

“What is it?” He asked, his voice sounding hushed, almost awed as he took it in.

Tony smiled slightly at Quill’s tone.

“A portal.” He said simply.

Nat stared at it, tracing her finger around one of the circular designs.

“A portal?” She asked, her voice similarly awed. Her finger ran through the hologram as the car bounced over a pot hole.

“He’s made a portal to another dimension.” Rocket explained, a pad of his own in his hands as he read through Tony’s math. “Stark, you certain about your math here?”

Tony shot him a look, not appreciating the job given his circumstances.

“Yes. I’m always sure of my math.” He almost snapped.

Rocket glanced up at him.

“Okay, cool your engines! I just wanted to be sure.” He said quietly as he continued to scroll through. “You’ve run simulations as well?”

“Yes, multiple. Believe it or not it was pretty easy to figure it out theoretically, or, should I say, the idea seemed plausible. The theory in actuality was, well, I’ll admit, a little challenging.” Tony said quickly, trying, and failing, to keep a little pride out of his voice.

Steve studied the hologram with a frown, his face missing the awed expressions shared by Quill and Nat. 

“Something bothering you, Cap?” Tony asked, feeling his defensiveness rise again, just knowing that the other man would find some issue with the invention.

Steve frowned at him a little, but he seemed to at least hesitate before sharing his concerns.

“It just seems a little over the top, don’t you think?” He asked, his tone annoyingly worried. “I mean, it’s great, brilliant even, but, I guess I just worry this could be used incorrectly.”

Tony fought off the urge to throw the pad on the car floor and scream like a toddler. 

“I don’t know, Captain America.” Quill jumped in quickly. “Seems pretty good for me.” 

“Yes, but where does the portal lead?” Steve asked.

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m not sure yet. Right now, nowhere. We would have to manually enter a destination each time it was used.”

“What do you mean other dimensions?” Nat asked, her eyes focussing on Tony’s face.

Tony looked over at Rocket, silently asking for his support.

“When Stark and I worked on the time machine, we looked pretty closely into Pym’s research into the Quantum realm. We even got Lang to contribute some of his own first hand discoveries from his time in the Quantum realm. What Stark has made is basically an advanced Quantum tunnel.” Rocket explained. “It’s basically a one-way ticket to that dimension.”

Nat frowned a little and Steve looked a little annoyed.

“So it’s a Quantum tunnel. You just took Pym’s invention and threw a Stark logo on it?” Steve said a little harshly.

Tony let out an audible gasp at this and quickly shut down the hologram and slid along the seat so he sat as far away from them as possible. 

“No, no, no!” Rocket intervened quickly. “God, I thought we were bad at getting along. You guys need to work your issues out!”

Rocket pressed a few buttons on his end and the hologram re-appeared in the car.

“Stark has taken Pym’s technology and built on top of it. The Quantum realm is just the beginning of this machines capabilities. Although, that’s the level you would report to the authorities, I’m assuming you wouldn’t tell them exactly just how powerful this thing is?”

Tony glared up at Rocket, despite none of his frustration being directed at him. He gave his friend a small nod.

“So, what else does it do?” Quill asked, childlike wonder still in his eyes.

Tony cleared his throat and pushed himself back to the centre of the seat, ignoring Steve’s guilty looks.

“Rocket is correct when he says it’s based on Pym’s technology. However, this is intended to go beyond the Quantum realm.” He looked over at Nat, his heart beating quickly as he tried to guess her response to his next words. “This, at its highest functioning levels, will open us up to the multiverse.”

Quill gasped, eyes somehow growing wider.

“I’m not sure if you’re a villain or if I should swoon over your genius, Stark.” He gushed. “The multiverse has never been confirmed until now!”

“Multiverse?” Steve asked, trying to send Tony apologetic looks, but being thoroughly ignored by the other man.

Tony sent him a quick glare before staring at the hologram as he explained.

“After we defeated Thanos, I thought that it was possible that each timeline created could possible branch off to create a different outcome in an alternate reality. Something we very nearly experienced. I figured, if we could change the past without the present being overly affected, that must mean that at some point, an alternate reality was created that contained the differences between timelines.”

“Yeah,” Rocket said, jumping in. “Not just from Thanos though, from the very beginning of the universe. That means every possible existence is probably a reality somewhere in the multiverse. That means multiple versions of ourselves, some that look nothing like us or act completely differently, but are, at some level, us.”

“That means somewhere out there, Thanos won.” Nat whispered.

Tony quickly looked away at her words.

“I propose, we present the base levels to vice president. Tell him we operate only at a Quantum level, and that would be true to some extent. But, I would like to continue to work on the idea of multiverse travel for my own research.”

Quill frowned a little, as did Nat. The two of them looked over at Cap, almost awaiting his decision. 

The man sighed and dropped his head into his hands a little.

“Tony.” He began, missing the way Tony’s face dropped upon hearing his tone. “I think this is amazing. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Tony sat forward, finally locking eyes with Steve as the other man looked up.

“Think about it, Steve. It had so much possibility.” He rushed, his voice low. “If earth came under attack again we wouldn’t have to wait for defeat, or wonder how we’re going to win, because somewhere out there, the fight has already been fought and probably won! There would never be another Thanos. Never another war because we would know how to end it before it begins!”

Steve looked at him mournfully.

“Tony, we’ve disagreed about this in the past. Ending things before they begin is never the way.”

“Yeah, but look at what happened with Thanos. If we had ended it before we began we could have saved the millions who were killed outside of the snap!” Tony hissed back.

“We also don’t know what their motives are! Rocket just said that there are an infinite number of possibilities. That means that an outcome that seems good could actually be bad! Just because it works in one universe doesn’t mean it would work in another!”

“Yes, but if we couldn’t prevent the loss of life-“

“No, Tony. That’s not it. Sometimes bad things happen to bring about a greater good.”

Tony stared at him, honestly shocked by Steve’s words. Silence fell, thick and heavy around them as every eye weighed on the good Captain.

Steve looked around, knowing he had to explain quickly.

“Look, in war, soldiers die. But they lay down their lives for the greater good. Sacrifice. I don’t believe in trading lives, but I do believe in sacrifice. This generation, and my own, sacrificed a lot for the next. Mine sacrificed their lives to stop the Nazis. This one, their own to stop Thanos. When we remove sacrifice from history, it’s easy for generations to forget themselves. In order for sacrifice to exist, a bad event must take place.”

Tony glared at him, a deep, cold feeling that he had thought he’d let go long ago bubbling in him as he stared at the man.

“And what, exactly, was the good outcome of Thanos?” He asked, his voice low and cold. 

Steve looked across the car at him, his face falling a little as he recognised Tony’s tone. 

“I don’t know.” He admitted quietly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just think we should take all of the possibilities into account.”

“Tony.” Nat began, catching his eyes. “Look, I think Steve’s right. If we can open a doorway to another world here, we can’t really control what comes through from the other side. It just seems a bit too risky.”

Tony bit back his disappointment, but raised his eyes to the screen looking at Quill and Rocket as his last hopes.

They both looked uncertain.

“Dude. I’m not sure. Honestly, I think Cap’s gone a little heartless with the sacrifice example, but he has a point. Most things work out for the better. That and we have no idea what to expect from the other universes. I think, at best, we should put it on hold for a bit. But you should still present the Quantum Tunnel as your contingency.” Quill said, almost tripping over his words.

Tony looked at Rocket, almost pleading with him silently. Rocket looked at him and shook his head sadly.

“Sorry man. I agree with them, not Cap’s cold hearted speech, but with the other stuff. As much as I want to build something this awesome, I just can’t risk it. I mean, what if we open it up and another Thanos comes through?” He said apologetically.

Tony bit his lip and looked down at his shoes, failing to hide his disappointment.

“Tony, it’s okay. It’s amazing.” Nat jumped in, seeing him. “Maybe in the future once we’ve thought it out more we could pursue it. But, right now, let’s just stick with Pym’s tunnel. Like Rocket said, we don’t want a Thanos from a different universe getting back here.”

Tony sighed and slouched back into the chair, feeling defeated. He closed his eyes for a second before closing the hologram once again.

“Okay.” He said quietly, looking between them all. “We’ll leave it for now.”

Looking down at his pad, he could feel their eyes on him. They knew this wasn’t the end of this conversation.


	5. Turning Point

Peter walked quickly down his street, his head down against the cold wind that had now decided to come bearing snow. It was well after dark and he could feel small gusts of heat coming from restaurant doors when he walked past. The area was busier than he had ever seen it, but, considering there only remained three days until Christmas, he supposed he should not be surprised. He pulled his jacket a little tighter around himself as he quickly looked both ways before jogging across the street and heading down the little alleyway that lead to his apartment. He moved quickly, over eager to turn on his little space heater and get some dinner started. Opening the door, he rushed inside and turned on the heater, huddling near it as it began to slowly warm is small living area. Wanting a distraction from the cold, he turned to the small T.V. he had picked up on a street corner and switched it on, allowing the noise the fill the room around him as he made his way to the bathroom to shower.

He washed quickly, not wanting to linger, knowing he had bills coming up in the New Year. He got out and shoved on pyjamas and some warm socks before making his way to the kitchen and throwing a frozen lasagne in the microwave. He returned to the couch to watch the news as it began to cook.

“In other news, it seems this year is a year of Christmas miracles, isn’t that right, Todd?” The brunette presenter said, turning to her blonde anchor.

“That’s right Stacy. The Avengers have seemingly re-assembled with Tony Stark joining former members Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov right here in Washington over the Christmas period. The three are working alongside multiple government departments to negotiate the terms of citizenship for one extra-terrestrial and one human.”

Peter leaned forward slightly, gripping a blanket around his shoulders and a press image of the three came onto the screen.

“It would seem that the Vice President has allowed a meeting with Mr. Stark with the VP expressing concerns over containment and demanding contingency plans.”

The man looked over at his co-anchor.

“I mean, I don’t blame him, Stacy, we’ve seen great things from Tony Stark over the last few years, but he does not seem to be the most responsible person on earth.”

The woman nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, Todd. We shouldn’t forget that earlier in the year the very same man was seen fighting with Spider-Man on a rooftop in New York, and while the footage has since been deleted, no one has seen the Spider-Man since the Stark Tower Bombings. Which makes you wonder if Tony Stark really is capable of choosing and containing enhanced individuals.”

Peter frowned a little, but lifted the remote to turn off the T.V. before he could upset himself further. He sat in the silence of the apartment for a moment, when he heard the sounds of a scuffle in the alleyway across the street. His brow creased a little as the words of the captain came back to him.

Quickly, he pushed off his blanket and walked over to the window, peering out over the street and into the alleyway.

“No, stop!” Came the distressed cries of a young man. “Please! Someone, help!”

Peter sprung into action without thinking. He slid up the window and jumped through, landing in the street. He sprinted across the freezing cold road and into the alleyway.

The young man saw him and his eyes widened.

“Call for help!” He cried as another man shoved him against a wall and ripped his backpack from his grasp.

Peter felt his own eyes widen. 

“What the hell.” He muttered.

The mugger turned to him, a sardonic grin across his face. He dropped the smaller man to the ground as soon as he and Peter locked eyes.

Peter refused to allow fear to take over as he looked at the doppelganger before him. The man’s green eye’s blazed as he reached behind him, grabbing something from his back pocket.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the long-lost Spider.” He chuckled darkly.

Peter huffed, continuing to walk forward, his eyes darting between the mugger and the man now laying against the wall.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Leave him alone!”

“I think you do, Peter Parker.” The man said, whipping a gun out from behind his back.

Peter froze for a second, then reached out a hand, showing his lack of intent to attack.

“Woah. Put down the gun, man. No one wants any more trouble.” He said, his voice shaking despite his desperate desire for it to remain firm.

He truly wished he could spring into action, knock the gun from the man’s hand and rescue this other man. However, he could still hear crowds milling around the near-by restaurants, and happy couples walking past the alley-way, oblivious to the situation within.

The man chuckled.

“No can do, kid. Boss want’s you out of the way.” He said. 

And with that, he fired, hitting Peter in the shoulder before firing another shot, hitting him in the knee. Peter stumbled back against the brick wall of the alleyway, grasping his shoulder in man and bitting back a pained moan and his hand blindly grabbed his knee.

Driven by pure terror, the smaller man grabbed his bag and ran out of the alleyway, sprinting as fast as he could down the street, leaving Peter and the Mark doppelganger alone.

The mugger crouched down in front of the pained boy, dramatically blowing the end of his gun before shoving it back into his pants.

“Been trying to find you for a while now, Spider-boy. When last week’s mark said you climbed a wall, we were all pretty certain we’d finally hit gold. Turns out all we needed was a gun to take you down.”

Peter moaned in pain, his head falling back against the wall as his vision began to blur at the edges. He lifted his head slightly as a siren sounded in the distance.

The doppelganger whipped his head around at this, a little dread flickering on his face.

“I would love to stay, kid.” He said, looking back at Peter. “But the boss can’t lose any more of us. Looks like you’re in for a cold night.” 

And with that, he ducked out of the darkened alleyway, leaving Peter hunched against the wall. 

 

Tony held back a dramatic eye roll as he stood outside the slightly opened door of the Vice President’s office. He had been waiting for the older woman to allow him access to her office for the last half an hour. He desperately hoped she would allow him entry soon as he was more than eager to get this particular meeting over with so he could return to his hotel room and continue the research he had begun prior to coming over.

“Mr. Stark, Vice President Fower will see you now.” A young, male voice announced.

Tony whipped around to look at the young man, dressed in a cheap suit that spoke of his low status in the white house. He offered the young man a nod as he entered the room, looking towards the wooden desk at the opposite end and the old woman sitting primly behind it.

He held back a grimace. He had been in support of a woman taking up the high ranking position, and there had been a number of candidates he had personally sponsored. This woman, however, had not been one of them. She had a cold way about her, ruthless and calculating. Vindictive and manipulative. He knew he would have to stay on his toes to avoid her coercing him into a position they had no desire to be in. With great effort, he forced a charming smile onto his face as he walked through the room and stood opposite her as she had risen in greeting.

“Mr. Stark. Always a pleasure.” She said with an air of warmth that could have fooled even the best body language expert. She held out a hand which Tony quickly accepted, returning the warm greeting.

They quickly sat, both of them taking a moment to study the other.

“Ms. Vice President, thank you for taking the ti-“ Tony began, only to be cut off by the sudden dropping of her warm façade, letting him to her assistant had left and the two were now alone.

“Cut the bullshit, Stark, what do you want?” She asked, cold eyes gleaming and she leaned across her desk slightly, reading every micro-expression on his face, searching for weaknesses.

Tony felt his eye twitch slightly as he took her in for a second, the room suddenly felt a lot colder, the silence as she waited for him to respond was almost deafening.

He took a deep breath, willing himself to stay calm as he dealt with this.

“We need your support on the citizenship deal.” He said shortly.

She chuckled a little, and leaned back into her chair, eyeing him darkly.

“You need help, do you?”

Tony narrowed his eyes a little and resisted the urge to bite his lip. He knew exactly where she was going to take this.

“Stark, I recall a time when I asked for your support, and you said.” She paused dramatically, purposefully delaying her speech and Tony tensed, knowing exactly what he had called her. “Oh, yes, I remember. You said, ‘Go to hell you fucking sea witch. Your candidate will never be president.’ Well, I hate to break it to you, but, here we are.”

Tony sighed and slumped back into the chair a little. He had no idea why Cap had thought it was a good idea to send him in for this meeting.

“Yes, well, obviously, I was.” He paused, almost having to force the last word out. “Wrong.”

Marissa Fower’s face lit up.

“Well. I never thought I would see the day that Tony Stark admitted he was wrong.”

“Well, in my defence you still are a sea witch, you’re just a sea witch with an office now.” He quipped, lifting his eyes to hers in a challenge.

“Yes, and you’re just a rich boy who can punch well.” She replied, looking over his body in a way that made him recoil further into the seat. “At least you’re handsome.”

He swallowed, suddenly feeling very eager to leave. However, he forced himself to lean forward in the chair, knowing many people were relying on him for their futures. 

“What will it take to get your support?” He snapped, forcing his eyes to remain on hers as he locked his jaw and clasped his hands on the desk.

She studied him a moment longer, before letting out an amused huff as she pulled her chair back and ruffled through a drawer on her left.

“Mr. Stark, you are aware that while you and I have our differences, my first priority is service the president of the United States, who, despite your very public refusal to back him, thinks you are a good and honest man. Someone the nation can admire.”

Tony inclined his head slightly.

“That’s nice.” He offered.

“I, on the other hand, think you are a narcissistic ass-hole who lucked out and uses their money to influence politics.” She said, placing a file on the desk in front of her. She returned her gaze to him once more. “But as I said, I serve my president. His wish is my command. And he wishes for the citizenship deal to go through. However, I have a few conditions on this.”

“Yes, the feds already told us we need contingencies.” Tony rushed in, wanting this meeting to be over.

She chuckled slightly and narrowed her eyes.

“No, no. I don’t care about that. You might be an ass-hole but you’re not stupid. No, my concern isn’t whether or not you can contain them, my concern is whether you are responsible to handle them. The American people have been very gracious in allowing enhanced people and mutants to live among them. But now, we’re talking about aliens! Someone needs to step up and take responsibility for them.”

“And that’s exactly what I will do.” Tony rushed in once again.

“Will you now?” She asked, a little incredulously.

Tony huffed out a sigh and slumped back in the chair.

“I know the avengers haven’t exactly been a dream to handle. But we’re still earth’s best defence. Allowing the guardians to live on earth between their own missions would only strengthen us.” He said quietly, trying to remain reasonable. 

“And I agree, Mr. Stark. However, your most recent, well, failure, has caused the public to loose a lot more trust in you.”

Tony whipped his head back up.

“What?”

“Spider-Man.” She said simply, holding back a cold grin that was eagerly trying to spread across her face as Tony failed to hold back the pained look that flickered across his own.

“What about him?” He huffed.

“You lost a very powerful individual, one who could possibly become incredibly dangerous if he chose to act against the American people.”

“He would never do that.” Tony argued quickly, sitting forward once again.

“We don’t know that. Tell me, Stark, when was the last time you spoke with him?” She asked, an eyebrow raised.

Tony hesitated slightly, knowing the answer would in no way help.

“Just over six months ago.” He whispered, lowering his eyes to the desk top.

Fower let her grin slip through.

“And you wish to tell me you would be consistently responsible for a group of super-powered aliens.” She stated.

Tony stared at the desk resolutely.

Fower sighed, seeing Tony’s lack of response.

“Stark, look. We don’t like each other, but I can’t dis-regard the President’s wishes because I don’t like you.” She said, her voice as gentle as Tony had ever heard it. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

Tony looked up, meeting her eyes again.

“Find Spider-Man, and I’ll support the deal. All we need is proof that you can be responsible.”

Tony felt his eyes widen slightly, but he quickly nodded.

“I think I can do that.” He said, already pushing back his chair, sensing that this meeting was finally coming to an end.

 

It was well past eight p.m when Steve received a call from Tony, alerting him of the Vice Presidents ultimatum, he finalised this call as he walked the few remaining blocks to his apartment. However, as neared it, he walked past a long, dark alleyway, and, thinking of his lovely neighbour, stopped at the end, looking.

He narrowed his slightly just as an icy breeze picked up, causing him to draw his coat tighter around himself. He looked in as best he could, taking a few steps between the buildings and looking around.

“Maybe we should get some lights in here.” He mumbled to himself, thinking of how much safer Sarah would feel walking past here each night if she could see clearly down there.

He walked further in, accidently kicking up some trash as he surveyed the rooftops of the buildings, looking for the best options regarding lighting. Suddenly, he heard a low moan from the end of the alleyway. He frowned, and cautiously walked further in.

“Hey, anyone here?” He asked, his body becoming ready for a fight.

No one answered, all that came was a small whimper.

Cap walked in further, squinting through the darkness and making out a small outline at the end of the alleyway. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone, quickly turning on the torch. He gasped as he saw the small, young man hunched against the wall and shivering with the cold. He rushed forward and bit back his horrified gasp at the sight of blood on the boy’s clothes.

“Peter! Peter, can you hear me?”

Peter groaned slightly, teeth chattering wildly and he sluggishly looked at cap.

“Steve?” He mumbled.

Cap wasted no time, he hastily picked up the boy and rushed to his own apartment.


	6. Ice-Cream

Peter groaned in pain and winced as Steve placed him gently on an old, small couch in his living room.

“Sorry, kid. I’m being as gentle as I can.” Cap said, worry evident in his voice as he helped Peter settle back.

He frowned as he took in Peter’s appearance. The wounds no longer seemed to be bleeding, in fact, both seemed to have made significant progress towards healing. However, Steve was worried about how long Peter had been out in the cold and hastily ran to his bedroom to retrieve a thick, fluffy comforter, one that he immediately tucked in around Peter as soon as he returned. 

Unable to stop shivering, Peter found himself unconsciously gripping the comforter like a lifeline, burrowing down as far as he could as he watched Steve retreat to his room once again, this time returning with a space heater that he set up in front of Peter.

“How you feeling, kid? You want something warm to drink? Tea, hot water? Hot Chocolate?” He asked as he finished adjusting the heater, his eyes watching Peter earnestly, concealing very little of his concern.

Peter blinked groggily as him, a sudden chill spreading over him as he instinctively held the blanket tighter, unable to bring himself to refuse Steve’s offers.

Seeing his chill, Steve came and crouched in front of him, looking up at him with wide eyes and placing a large, comforting hand on his knee.

“Kid? Peter, you wanting anything?” He asked again gently, patiently waiting as Peter’s chill began to dissipate.

Peter nodded slightly, a little annoyed that he was unable to get his teeth to stop chattering.

Steve patted his knee, a small smile spreading on his face.

“Okay. What do you want?”

“H-hot ch-chocolate.” He chattered out. “P-please.”

Steve gave him a fond smile and ruffled his hair as he stood.

“Anything you want, Pete. Just let me know.” He assured Peter gently as he turned and walked into his small, cosy kitchen. 

Peter followed him with his eyes, able to see his every move through the open doorway from the couch. He watched as Steve filled up a small, silver pot of milk and set it on the stove top and pulled out three china mugs. Peter sucked in a worried breath as he counted them.

“St-steve?” He called out.

He felt a little guilt rush through him as Steve turned quickly, worry filling his face as he rushed back to Peter’s side and rested a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, Pete. You okay?” He asked.

Peter nodded, but let his eyes travel back to the kitchen.

“Who’s c-coming?”

Steve stroked his shoulder in a gentle, fatherly fashion and offered a kind smile.

“Don’t worry. Tony doesn’t know you’re here.” He said, biting back a worried scowl when he watched Peter breath out in relief. “I texted Nat when I was getting the heater. She’s going to come around and we’ll deal with whatever has happened to you.”

Peter bit his lip at the mention of Natasha.

“W-will she tell Mr. Stark?” He asked, eyes wide and platinum blond hair falling over with brow and into the frames of his glasses.

Steve cringed slightly, truly wishing Peter would move on from whatever issue he currently had with Tony and just speak with the man.

“No, not unless you ask her to.” He said, biting his lip again as Peter once again appeared relieved. “But, if we see him and he asks, we’ll tell him the truth.”

Peter looked at him, worrying his bottom lip, causing Steve to let out a sigh as he stood up again, heading back into the kitchen to check on the milk, adding chocolate powder in and string gently. The young boy pushed himself up off of the couch, wincing at the pain that was still prominent in his knee. He held the blanket tight around himself and limped into the kitchen, causing Steve to turn and watch him warily as he collapsed with a ragged breath into a chair at the kitchen table.

“When are you seeing him next?” Peter asked softly, looking down at where his fingers clutched the thick blanket.

Steve frowned a little.

“Later tonight.”

Peter looked up sharply, his mouth opening uselessly. Cap simply shrugged.

“Tony wanted to get ice-cream after his meeting. But he wanted to wait until Nat was ready, so we won’t be going to meet him until after eleven.”

Peter turned slightly as he heard Steve’s door open and close.

“Steve, Peter?” Came a strong feminine voice. 

“In the kitchen, Nat!” he said over his shoulder as he carefully poured the hot chocolate into the three waiting cups. “Just in time! Hot Chocolate is ready!”

Peter looked over his shoulder, instinctively drawing the blanket closer around him as Natasha walked through the living room and into the kitchen, sending Peter a kind smile as she did. Peter couldn’t help but return this, he had always felt comfortable around her, despite their limited interactions.

“Hey, Pete.” She said warmly, and walked over to him quickly, leaning down to give him a quick, friendly hug.

Peter leaned in as best he could, appreciating her lack of remarks about his absence. Something he had not appreciated about Steve until now either. He quickly sent the man a small, apologetic smile as he set the cups on the table and sat down across from Peter. Natasha pulled back and settled into the seat next to Peter, accepting the cup offered to her by Steve. Peter accepted his own cup also.

“So, um. How come you guys are going out so late?”

Steve chuckled, a hint of light entering his eyes as he and Nat shared a fond look.

“You told him we’re going to meet Tony?” She asked.

Steve nodded as Nat turned to explain the situation to him. 

“Steve, Tony, Bruce and I would sometimes go out for ice-cream late at night whenever one of us had a lot on or minds. It was mostly before Germany, so this will be the first time we’ve done it again since then.” She explained, a warm hand landing of Peter arm.

“We’ve all been a bit on edge about the citizenship deal, and, well, Tony and I tend to snap at each other a lot when we get stressed.” Steve said, taking over the explanation. “So, when we got like that in the past, we’d get ice-cream.”

Natasha chuckled, clearly recalling a fond memory as she looked over at Steve, removing her hand from Peter.

“I remember the three of us went this one time. We’d all been out on a mission and Steve and Tony had been screaming at each other all day because Tony wanted to see if he could make androids of us all and send them in to fight so he could go on vacation with Pepper. But Steve argued that Tony would never go on holiday, we just wanted an excuse to build androids. We went for ice-cream and I kid you not, it was the most tense experience of my life!” She said, laughing fondly as Steve scowled a little, not quite able to hide a smile of his own. “Imagine two grown men angrily eating ice-cream in central park!”

Peter chuckled a little at the imagery as Steve grumbled under his breath. He could defiantly imagine Tony doing that. He quickly took a sip of his hot chocolate before asking a question that had been nagging him since Steve found him.

“How is he?” He asked softly, lowering his eyes back to his cup.

He cringed as Steve sighed slightly, playing with his own cup.

“He’s worried about you, Pete.” Steve offered.

Nat leaned forward, once again placing a gentle hand on his arm. He met her eyes.

“You’re welcome to come with us for ice-cream. He’d be so happy to see you.” She said quietly.

Peter bit his lip and look back down at his cup.

“I-I can’t. I’ll just mess everything up for him.” He sighed.

Steve frowned a little.

“What do you mean by that, Pete?” 

Peter worried his bottom lip, his finger playing with his now empty cup. 

“Peter?” Nat pressed gently. 

Peter felt his lower lip trembling a little as he desperately wondered how he would explain this to them.

“I killed a man.” He finally let out, a soft sob coming with it.

“Oh, Pete.” Nat sighed, moving her chair closer and pulling Peter into an awkward, but welcomed hug.

He sniffled a little and quickly swatted away and renegade tear.

“B-before he died, h-he told me that I could never be seen with Mr. Stark again. Because I was associated with him, the city would hate him for killing the bomber.” He said, tear breaking free.

“Oh, kid.” Steve said softly, getting up from his seat and walking around the where Peter sat, pulling out the chair next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did the right thing. And Tony is so proud of you for that!”

“But I killed a man!” Peter sobbed, looking over at Steve desperately.

“You did what needed to be done to save countless others.” Steve said firmly. “He told us you saved his life!”

“Peter.” Nat said, her thumb gently brushing over his arm. “Tony loves you like you’re his own. There is nothing you could do to change that! And you’re a smart kid! You should know better than to believe what some crazy criminal has to say.”

Peter took a shaky breath, but nodded slightly.

“I-I just don’t know.” He whispered.

They sat in a long, comfortable silence as Peter slowly regained his breath, and allowed the blanket to fall from his shoulders as he finally felt warm again.

“Look, kid. We won’t force you to see him again. But you should know he’s heartbroken about this.” Steve said.

“Yeah, he’s not even trying to cover it up with inappropriate jokes.” Nat quipped, but immediately looked guilty as Steve shot her a look from across the table. 

“We won’t force you, but like I said, we won’t lie to him either. If he asks us, we’ll tell him the truth.” Steve finished.

Peter stared at him for a moment, but slowly nodded.

“Okay.” He said quietly. “Not right now, but I’ll try.”

Steve patted his shoulder.

“Well, thanks for everything.” Peter said, letting the blanket fall completely as he slowly rose to his feet, the pain in his knee having decreased significantly. “But I should be going home. I have a big day tomorrow.”

Nat and Steve shared a worried look as Nat stood quickly.

“You live far from here?” She asked.

Peter chuckled slightly and shook his head.

“No, no. I actually live about two blocks down. Lived there since I moved here.”

Steve allowed a confused look to cross his face.

“How come I haven’t seen you? I’ve been living in Washington for just over a month?”

Peter shrugged slightly.

“Probably bad luck? I work odd hours, depending on where Becky and Elroy want me, so we’ve probably just missed each other a bunch of times.”

Steve supressed the urge to sigh loudly and stood to his feet.

“You going to be okay getting home? I would offer to go with you, but Tony will be getting dropped off here soon. I’m guessing you won’t want him to see me walking around near your house?’

Peter shot him a guilty, but grateful smile.

“Thanks. I’ll be okay.”

Nat watched him for a second, before pulling him into one, final hug.

“Be careful, Pete.” She whispered as he returned her hug.

“I will. I’ll see you guys round.” He said, sending Steve one more grateful smile. 

 

It seems that the stars were aligned in Peter’s favour that night, for just as he finally settled down into his own warm bed, just a few blocks away, an expensive town car pulled up at the front of Steve’s complex and a tired, annoyed, but slightly excited Tony Stark shot a final thank you to the driver as he rushed inside the building, pulling off his thick coat as he exited the lift and walked down the short hallway to Steve’s apartment, barely pausing to knock before letting himself in.

“Romanov, Rogers! You kid’s still awake?” he called out with a little chuckle as he walked in, frowning slightly as he looked at the unused space heater in the living room. 

“Tony, we’re in the kitchen!” Came Nat’s friendly response.

He didn’t even try to supress his grin as he walked through, eager to restart a tradition. He watched as Steve hurriedly shoved some cups in the sink as he walked into the small kitchen and sent him a small, warm smile.

“Hey, Tony.” He said, walking over and pulling him into a short, friendly hug, one that Tony hesitated to return, before patting the other man on the back.

“Good to see you, Steve.” He said, offering a genuine smile to the taller man.

He looked around the small apartment, taking it in, and pretending not to notice the worried looks Steve and Natasha were sharing as his eyes fell on the unused blanket currently occupying and empty seat.

“Sorry about the mess.” Steve offered as he hurriedly picked up the offending object and threw it on the couch, watching to ensure it missed the heater. “We didn’t realise you’d be coming up.”

“Yeah, sorry. Just wanted to see the place for myself.” He said, peering into the sink and frowning as he saw three cups.

He once again pretended not to notice Steve and Nat’s very obvious looks.

“Well, ready to go? My car is on the street; I can drive us.” Steve offered, standing quickly and leading the way out of the room.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Nat said, following him out and giving Tony a look to follow.

He frowned slightly, a little surprised by their bad acting, but followed them out non-the-less. 

He sat in the back seat of Steve’s old car, frowning as he listened to Nat and Steve banter back and forth, knowing that they were struggling to cover something up until they could land on a conversation that would distract him. Even after they had arrived at the late-night ice-cream parlour and they had all eaten their fill, Tony kept his comments short, refusing to bite. Finally, he had enough.

“What are you not telling me?” He snapped, struggling to keep his irritation out of his voice, angrily shoving the very last of his ice-cream in his mouth. 

Both of them had the audacity to look confused.

“Three cups in the sink. A space heater in an unused room, Steve, you would never do that, you hate unnecessary power usage. And the unused blanket at the table. What are you not telling me?” He narrowed his eyes a little, before gasping “Peter was there?”

Steve looked away guiltily, running a hand through his hair as Nat let out a small sigh.

“Yeah, sorry Tony.” She said. “He was.”

“We really wanted to tell you, but he asked us not to. Told him if you asked we’d tell you the truth though.” Steve offered, struggling to meet Tony’s gaze.   
Tony shook his head, beyond irritated as he threw his empty cardboard ice-cream bowl on the table and crossed his arms.

“So what? Back at it again with the secrets?” He snapped, glaring at Steve with all his might.

Steve let out a dramatic sigh and leaned forward, hand stretched out in some sort of peace offering.

“No, Tony. I told you when I first heard he was around, and I told you about seeing him in the city. I haven’t kept anything from you.” He replied earnestly.

Tony moved his jaw slightly, but felt a little pang of guilt travel through him as he let out a sigh of his own.

“Yeah, okay.” He huffed, looking down at the soft pink table. “How come you didn’t tell me about this one?”

Nat and Steve shared a small look.

“Tony,” Nat began. “He’s scared. He probably thinks you hate him.”

Tony sat forward, a worried expression coming onto his face.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked too quickly, “Why would he think that?”

“Tony, it’s okay.” Steve hushed, his hand stretching out again, but stopping short of actually touching him, knowing he hated being touched when he was anxious.

“You mean it’s okay that’s he’s been wondering this city by himself for six months thinking I hate him?” Tony breathed out, finding his heart pounding a little too quickly.

Nat jumped up and moved to a seat closer to him, but also stopped short of touching him. 

“Tony, it’s not your fault. Peter is an adult who is capable of making is own choices.” She soothed.

“He’s just a kid!” Tony snapped, eyes wide and horrified.

“No. You think that because you care for him. But someone else has hurt him and unfortunately, even though he’s an adult, he’s still reacting as though he’s a kid.” Steve soothed, moving his chair a little closer. 

Tony’s eyes flickered between the two and he let out a loud groan and slipped back further into the metal chair, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he forced himself to take deep, calming breaths. He took several minutes, knowing his friends would understand.

“Okay.” He said after a long silence, cringing a little at his dramatic display and feeling incredibly embarrassed, knowing they had gotten a few odd looks from the one or two other patrons in the building, who had already been staring at them. “Okay, I’m good. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry.” Nat whispered instantly, her hand landing on his shoulder as soon as she saw the tension leave him.

“It’s not your fault.” Steve assured him on his other side. “It happens to the best of us.”

“Okay.” He breathed, before adding. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m being stupid. I’m so sorry.”

He felt Steve grip his shoulder a little.

“Tony, stop. You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You’ve made it clear to us that these panic attacks will happen, they’re part of you just for now. So don’t apologise.” He said quietly.

Tony desperately wanted to apologise again, but bit his lip, not wanting to annoy them.

“Okay.” He finally said. “Can we, maybe, you know, hit the road? You two have a press conference tomorrow and we need our best looking team members looking top notch for the press.” He quipped.

Steve and Nat shared a worried look, knowing he was falling back into deflection, but neither pushed it, knowing it was neither the time nor place.

They bustled out of the parlour and into Steve’s car.

“Okay! Who am I dropping off first?” Steve asked, after Tony climbed into the front passenger seat, having played a mature game of forcing Nat to sit in the back.

“Me first!” Nat said, poking the back of Tony’s neck through the head rest and grinning as he yelped. “It’s what you get for sitting there.”

He turned and stuck his tongue out at her.

They made quick work of dropping off Nat, both saying short goodbyes as she jumped out and walked quickly into the small house she was renting. As soon as she left, a slightly uncomfortable silence filled the car, Steve focussing on the road to distract himself from it.

“You know where you’re going?” Tony asked, not really needing to, just wanting to break the silence.

“Ritz-Carlton?” Steve checked, turning onto a new street.

“Yep.” Tony said quickly, looking out the window as the silence filled the car once again.

They turned down several more streets before Tony attempted to break it once again.

“I’m thinking of buying a house down here.” He offered, keeping his eyes trained on the passing scenery.

“Oh, that sounds nice.” Steve offered. “Moving?”

“No, no. I think Pep loves New York, so we’ll stay there. Just want to have somewhere homier to stay than a hotel whenever I come down.”

Steve chuckled slightly, not enough to break the slight awkwardness in the car.

“Five star hotel not enough?”

Tony let out a small chuckle of his own.

“Only four and a half.” He said, allowing his distastes to show dramatically. “Can you even imagine how horrible that missing half star is?”

Steve laughed a little, turning his head just enough to see Tony smiling slightly.

“Well, it could be worse.” Steve replied without thinking, effectively destroying the conversation and killing the laughter in Tony’s throat.

They drove a few more minutes in deep silence, not broken until Tony saw the hotel ahead. He cleared his throat.

“Hey, Steve. Listen.” He began, turning to his body was facing slightly toward Steve, but keeping his eyes either on the steering wheel, or looking out the window. “I’m sorry for snapping at you on the phone the other day when you asked me to stay an extra few days.”

Steve shot him a surprised look, but kept his eyes on the road as he turned into the Hotel entrance.

“It’s okay, Tony. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment. I appreciate you being here.”

Tony hesitated another moment, waving off a hotel hand who came to open his door. Taking a shaky breath, he turned to face Steve, pulling two envelopes out of his pocket and holding them out for Steve to take.

“Can you do me a favour?”

“Anything.” Steve replied, eyeing the envelopes.

“One is for Pete. One is for you.” He replied, showing the hand written names on the top.

Steve frowned a little.

“Can you give Pete his one next time you see him?” He asked, eye’s wide.

Steve looked between the envelopes, and Tony’s earnest face, before nodding and taking the envelope from his hand, but allowing Tony to hold onto the other for an extra moment.

“This is for you.” Tony finally said, not quite meeting his eyes. “Nat told me you’ve been a bit short the last few months.”

Steve let out a frustrated sigh and resisted the urge to snap about it.

“Please, Steve. It’s not much. Just enough to get proper groceries.”

“Tony. I can’t take your money.” Steve sighed, running a hand over his face.

“Yes, you can. You’re a war vet, Cap. You’re a former avenger and an upcoming political figure. You should be able to look after yourself properly. It’s a damn shame that the current government isn’t looking after you properly.” Tony urged. “Besides, it’s from both Pepper and I, so you’re not just saying no to me.”

Steve let out a dramatic sigh, but accepted the envelope, his cheeks warming slightly as he did.

“Okay.” He finally said. “Thank you. But I won’t be using it until it’s an emergency.”

Tony smiled a little, uncertainty showing in his eyes.

“Thanks, Steve.” He said quietly. “Please, don’t wait until your friends tell on you, next time. Just let me know.”

Steve looked over at him, a small, appreciative smile on his face.

“Thanks, Tony.” He said quietly.

Silence returned to the car and Tony took that as his queue to leave.

“Well, always nice to get ice-cream with friends! I’ll see you in the morning. Or, well, later in the morning!” he called out as he jumped out of the car, waving to Steve.

“Bye, Tony.” Steve said calmly, sending him a fond smile as Tony shut the door and walked into the hotel.


	7. A Brief Reunion

“Happy Christmas Eve-Eve!” Peter called out as he spotted Becky milling around with the other journalist outside of capitol building.

“Merry Christmas Eve-Eve right back at you!” She cried, pulling Peter into a warm embrace, before pulling back and giving him a serious look. “I’m sorry you had to be here, I know you don’t like these big stores, and frankly, after seeing you with Captain America, I can see why. But are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Fine now. I guess I just panicked.” He said with a small chuckle.

Becky shoved him lightly, and pushed some grey tinged hair behind her ear.

“That’s what I like to hear! I’m so proud of you Richie!” She exclaimed.

A stiff breeze came through the milling crowd that had now begun to huddle together, waiting for the press doors to open so they could enter the media room.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m ready for summer!” Peter exclaimed.

“Tell me about it!” Becky agreed, but her eyes darted behind Peter, “Oh, look! The doors are opening. Let’s get inside!”

The two of them hurried towards the door, getting a little crowded in by the other journalists also fighting to get out of the cold. Finally, they entered the room and found themselves separated, with Becky seated near the front, but Peter milling around the edges with some other photographers. The room was restless, everyone eager to get home and continue with their disrupted holidays. Finally, a young man stepped onto the platform and leaned forward, speaking into the microphone. Peter watched with some surprise as Steve and Natasha walked on the stage behind him, standing next to the flag. He sent them both an awkward little smile when they made eye contact, but frowned a little when Nat’s face seemed to register something like panic. He frowned slightly, he had not expected to see him, but her expression made him worry that he should leave. He bit back his worry as Captain Witts walked on the stage, shaking hands with Steve and Nat as he stood next to them.

“Good morning members of the press. I’m Matthew Dale. Thank you for coming at such short notice, however, we do have two important matters that we wish to share with the public. First of all, we will be hearing from Captain Witts regarding some muggings that have occurred across the city. Secondly, Captain Rogers and Ms. Romanov will be speaking with us regarding the inter-galactic citizenship deal.” He turned to face Captain Witts, giving the man a nod.

Peter raised his camera and snapped away as the Captain took out some notes from his suit pocket, laying them out carefully on the podium.

“Good morning, members of the press. I wish to thank you for joining us, and I wish to assure you, we would not do so unless the situation demanded it.” The Captain turned slightly, nodding to someone just off stage, who apparently controlled a power point presentation. Peter sucked in a breath as the mugger’s face filled the screen. “over the last few days we have had multiple reports of muggings, all of our victims describing this man. During this time, we have brought in multiple suspects, identical to this man, all claiming to be him. We suspect that this is the work of a member of the mutant or enhanced community and ask that if you see this man, get to safety and call 911 immediately. Unfortunately, I would also advise against walking alone after dark, regardless of age or gender.”

The captain looked up from his notes, taking a deep breath before sending out a warning from his heart.

“I would urge the community. If you know any mutants or enhanced peoples, please go not discriminate against them because of the actions of one man. This is a time of year for peace, reconciliation and love. Let’s remember that. Thank you.” He said, stepping back from the podium as the press offered a polite applause.

Peter watched as he stepped back graciously, allowing Steve and Nat to step forward. He couldn’t help but notice Nat sending him worried looks as he lifted his camera, snapping away at them.

“Good morning.” Steve spoke, his voice commanding and captivating. “We are well aware of everyone’s desire to get home as soon as possible, so we will make this short.”

A smattering of grateful chuckles filled the room as Nat stepped up to the podium.

“As you are aware, over the last few weeks, we have been working towards an intergalactic citizenship deal for the group known as ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy’. As part of the negotiations, we have been ordered to create contingencies in the unlikely event that these peoples would turn against earth.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment, sending Peter one final, almost apologetic look before continuing. “In line with this, I would like to introduce our specialist, Tony Stark to the stage to briefly present our contingency plan for the publics consideration.”

Peter sucked in his breath, eye’s wide in horror as he watched Tony walk casually onto the stage. He barely heard the surprised murmurs around him as Tony strolled to the podium, both Nat and Steve stepping aside to allow him full access. He sent an easy grin to the press. 

“Good morning.” He said, his eye’s beginning to travel over the room.

Peter felt his heart pounding way too hard as he stared, open mouthed at the man speaking. He had to escape, but, just as it had been with Steve, his feet chose to remain frozen. Guilt bubbled in him as he stared at the man, feeling an awful lot like rising bile in his throat. 

“In an effort to abide by the federal government’s desire to protect our interests, they have asked for a contingency plan in the event that our friendly space neighbours want to, well, ruin everything.” He said, a with a small chuckle, his eyes wondering dangerously closer to where Peter stood. “With that in mind we-“

He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes finally having seen Peter standing uselessly, camera hanging limp around his neck. He appeared frozen behind the podium, his mouth opening and closing uselessly as he leaned forward and gripped the podium with both hands. Peter stared back, breathing heavily, torn between wanting to run up and hug the man, and wanting to sprint out of the room.

A member of the press stepped forward, eyeing Tony with a slightly concerned expression.

“Mr. Stark? Sir, are you okay?” He asked

Peter swallowed as he saw Steve step forward and grab Tony’s arm with one hand and covering the microphone with the other, speaking quietly into his ear. The press began to murmur; none having seen Tony Stark freeze before.

“Mr. Stark?” One lady called out, particularly loud.

That seemed to be enough to snap him out, his eyes tore off of Peter, and seemed to look out on the room, unfocussed and slightly confused. Peter felt sheer panic rush through him as Mr. Stark seemed to clutch his chest a little, grimacing in pain. 

“Mr. Stark. Are you drunk?” Another male press member pushed.

Steve seemed to shoot that man a particularly hard look as Tony seemed to finally refocus.

“Sorry.” He mumbled quietly, his hand going over his face. His voice seemed different, completely changed from the persona he had used only a minute earlier, now, it reminded Peter of the Mr. Stark he knew. The one who desperately tried to be strong, but could be sent spiralling into an anxiety attack just by misplacing a pen. “Sorry. I’m so sorry.” He mumbled again.

Peter frowned, coming out of his own trance slightly. He knew Tony wasn’t doing too well, even before he left, but even he was getting worried at how long it was taking him to pull himself together on the stage. He’d seen the man entertain massive crowds while having anxiety attacks, this seemed to be on a level of its own. 

A few cameras clicked around the room, and Peter could only feel anger towards those taking advantage of the man’s moment of weakness. 

“Okay! I’m back!” Tony said, the worst and fakest smile plastered on his face, his eyes darting around the room wildly. “And no. Not drunk, just sleep deprived.” He snapped a little. 

Peter watched with some satisfaction at the offending reporter seemed to shrink into his chair a little. He was happy that Tony seemed to have recovered enough to get through the presentation, though, his hands noticeably shook and his face looked a little pale. Seeming to notice his hands, he attempted to casually stuff them in his suit pockets and sent a forced grin out.

“I’ll get right to the point before my body decides to take another nap mid-presentation.” He quipped before continuing, his voice shaking a little. “As reported to the UN, in 2019 the avengers used Hank Pym’s Quantum technology to assist in the defence of earth. The attack against earth remains classified information. Basically, the quantum realm is an essentially unreachable place where we would send our space friends if they chose to become our enemies.”

He looked around the room.

“Questions?” He asked, but sighed as every hand in the room was raised. “Okay, I take it back. No questions. Good day.” He said, and seemingly stumbled off the stage, Natasha and Captain Witts moving to assist him as he nearly fell in the last few steps.

Steve moved back to the podium, eyes flickering from Tony to the room, avoiding Peter completely.

“Sorry to cut this short. However, the health of team members comes first. Tony has recently had some health issues that we will have some professionals see to. Thank you again for attending, we will send out press packs over the next few days including any information that Mr. Stark may have breezed over during his presentation.” 

Steve stepped away from the podium as the room exploded with noise, the press eager to hear more about Tony’s health and more about the technology.

Peter remained in his spot until Becky pushed her way out of the pack of journalists.

“Richie, come. We have a private interview with Captain Witts again.” She said, grabbing his wrist.

He nodded slightly, but allowed her to drag him out of the room and into a wide, hallway. Peter had only a few seconds to admire the huge artworks adorning the walls before Becky pulled him to a small door and into a cold, narrow hallway. 

“Beck!” He hissed, eyes darting around the pale concrete walls. “Where are we going?”

She didn’t stop, but threw him a cheeky smile over one shoulder.

“Captain Witts gave us a private invitation to have another interview with him. I’m taking him up on that!”

 

“Becky, wait.” He hissed as she stopped outside a closed door that she was preparing to open. He could hear voices inside. “What if he’s still with Mr. Stark. That guy looked pretty unwell.”

Becky frowned at him, but opened the door to the room anyway, her eyes widening as Peter’s worries were confirmed.

The room was incredibly small, but in the centre, in an old, plastic chair, sat Tony Stark. Captain Witts crouched in front of him, a wet hand towel in one hand as the other rested on Tony’s knee in a comforting manner. Steve and Natasha seemed to hover behind him, sharing worried looks, before snapping their eyes up at the intruders.

Becky gaped and paled.

“I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise. I just, Captain Witts.” She stumbled over her words. “I’m so sorry! We’ll leave.”

Peter watched as Steve’s eye flickered from her face to his. He seemed to communicate the need to remove Becky quickly, however, before they could move, the good captain turned to look right at him.

“Ah, Richard.” He said, sounding as though he was not dealing with a sick fifty something year old. “Please tell me you didn’t take pictures of this poor man?”

Peter froze and Steve slapped his palm on his head. Tony’s head whipped up and the older man looked straight at Peter.

“N-no, sir.” Peter stammered out, trying to avoid Tony’s gaze. 

Captain Witts pushed himself off of the ground to greet him properly, but immediately turned back when Tony fell forward in the chair. Acting on instinct, Peter lunged forward, not caring that the others would see his heightened speed and reflexes. He caught Tony’s shoulders just as his lower half began to slip off of the chair.

He looked up at Steve as Tony fell limp against him, only comforted by the fact that he could hear the man breathing evenly.

“A little help?” He asked, realising he couldn’t easily stand up without giving everything away to Captain Witts and Becky.

Steve came around and helped him ease Tony onto the ground, laying him on his side.

“What’s wrong with him?” Becky asked gently, journalistic tone gone and a motherly one taking its place.

Nat looked over at her, assessing her carefully before deciding she placed no real threat.

“He’s exhausted. He’s being overworking for the past few months and its finally caught up with him.” She said, a small smile on her face.

Peter frowned slightly, he knew it wasn’t exactly a lie. Tony had always worked too hard. He supposed marriage and a child wouldn’t magically fix that. But he’d never known Tony to push it to dangerous level’s such as this.

“Cap.” Peter whispered as he and Steve crouched near Tony’s head, monitoring his breathing and waiting for him to regain consciousness. “Is that all it is?” He asked.

Steve frowned a little, and looked over at Captain Witts, ignoring Peter’s question for the moments.

“Captain Witts. Would you escort this lady out? I assume she’s looking for you anyway. Meanwhile, we’ll commandeer young Richard here to help us.”

Captain Witts hastily agreed, and escorted Becky from the room in a polite manner, Becky offering her apologies once more for their intrusion and warning Peter not to over stay his welcome. As soon as the door shut, Nat moved to crouch next to them, shooting Peter a questioning look.

“Richard?” She asked with a raised brow.

He shrugged.

“My Dad’s name. Figured if anyone older recognised me they might just associate it with memory.” He answered quietly, his eyes returning to the man lying on the floor.

Tony seemed to groan a little and rolled on his back, bringing his hand to the bridge of his nose as he did.

“Tony.” Steve called his name firmly, receiving a low groan in response. “Tony, answer me. You blacked out.”

Tony blinked slightly, squinting as he looked at Steve.

“Yeah, buddy. I hear ya.” He mumbled as his eyes closed again.

Peter sat forward, and placed a hand on Tony’s wrist, measuring his pulse.

“M-Mr. Stark?” He asked cautiously, knowing it could trigger the man.

Tony groaned again, his other hand moving to grasp Peter’s.

“Hey kid.” He mumbled. “Thanks for giving me a heart attack.”

Peter chuckled sadly for a second, bringing his free hand to rest on Tony’s, squeezing it gently in re-assurance, fighting off the bubbling guilt within him, allowing himself just one selfish moment with him.

“Sorry.” He offered quietly.

Nat looked between the two, offering Peter a supportive smile and she brought a hand to Tony’s shoulder.

“Tony, can you sit up?” She asked gently, squeezing slightly.

Tony huffed a little, but seemed to push himself up with great effort. Peter frowned as Tony’s pulse increased dramatically from the simple movement.

“When was the last time you slept?” He asked.

Tony cracked his eyes open, only looking at him for a second before slamming them closed again and almost falling back to the ground. Steve caught him before his head smacked on the wooden flooring.

“Sorry! I’m good. Just dizzy.” Tony mumbled. “Shouldn’t have opened my eyes.”

“Tony, when was the last time you slept? Did you sleep last night after ice-cream?” Steve pushed.

Tony groaned.

“No.” He slurred out the word, sending a worried pang through Peter. “Too much sugar.”

Nat and Steve sighed. 

“What about before that, Tony? Have you slept since you came to Washington?” Nat asked.

Tony shook his head slightly, much to the dismay of the other three.

“What about before that, Mr. Stark” Peter pushed.

“Maybe three or four days ago?” He slurred, sounding a little confused.

“Four days!” Steve exclaimed, falling back and sitting cross legged. “Tony, you’re lucky you’re alive at this point!”

“Hatowor” Was what came out of Tony’s mouth, but Peter guessed what he meant.

“No, you don’t need to work all the time. You need to rest.” Nat urged him. “You should have told us you weren’t well, Tony! Not sleeping won’t help with the other stuff either!”

Tony waved her off slightly.

“Look.” He said, sounding a little clearer, but clearly requiring a lot of focus to do so. “Can we continue this after I sleep? This floor is not as comfortable as it looks. Besides, I was planning on sleeping today, and I would have been fine if I hadn’t had a massive panic attack. So, can someone take me somewhere I can sleep?”

Peter watched as Steve and Nat shared a look, one that made Peter look between the two with a small, conspiring smile. He quickly wiped it off his face when they both turned to look at him.

“Okay, Peter.” Nat said quietly, keeping her hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Can you help Steve walk Tony to my car? I’ll take him to my place and look after him there.”

Peter’s eyes widened as he watched Steve tuck a hand under Tony’s arm. He looked over at Peter, as though confused why he wasn’t on Tony’s other side, helping lift him. 

“Won’t the press see us?” He asked quietly, his eyes darting over to the closed door instinctively. 

“I don’t think that’s our biggest concern right now.” Steve answered, his voice a little hard, but his eyes worried. 

“Peter. Tony is currently sleep deprived and has had three anxiety attacks in the last twenty-four hours that we know of. On top of that, I’m pretty sure the only thing he’s eaten in the last two days is a bowl of ice-cream.” Nat said quickly, moving away from Tony in a way that clearly communicated to Peter that they should get moving.

Peter looked between the two, then down at the once again unconscious man. He bit his lip slightly, worrying about how Tony would react once he found out they’d carried him to an unknown place while he was unconscious. But, this was also his chance to prove to Tony that he could do something right!

And so, without further delay, Peter jumped across his legs and quickly helped Steve lift Tony up as they followed Nat to her car.


	8. Mark

It was nearly dark when Peter and Steve finally pulled up in front of Steve’s brick apartment complex. Despite Tony’s weak and weary protests after they had finally gotten him seated in Nat’s car, they had all accompanied him to his room to ensure he did not attempt to put off sleep any longer. Peter had been a little surprised at how weak Mr. Stark had been as he and Steve basically carried him in and allowed him to flop himself on the bed and instantly fall into a deep sleep. The three of them had remained in the room, taking turns at watching over him. The man in question had remained unconscious for another five hours until Nat decided it was best to wake him up before he was unable to sleep that night. Once they’d finally awoken him, he had sat up grumpily and accepted the soup that Steve basically forced down his throat, ignoring his insistence that he was not hungry. Finally, the sun had begun to set once more and Tony had begun to drift once again, Nat had waved them out insisting that she was capable of looking out for him for one night and that she was more than happy to sleep on the couch. That brought Peter to right now, as he watched Steve grimace and mutter as his car made some soft coughing sounds once they parked, before completely dying.

“Look like the old girl has finally called it in.” Steve muttered to himself, looking incredibly frustrated and he gently hit the steering wheel and removed the key.

Peter watched him for a moment, hesitating before offering a solution.

“You know, Mr. Stark could pitch in for a new one if you need it.” He said tentatively, still wary of Steve’s reaction. “He’s always happy to help his friends.”

Steve seemed to let out an annoyed huff and looked at Peter through the corner of his eye.

“I know, Peter. I just don’t like asking him for money.” He said quietly, jaw tight as he hurriedly opened the door and smoothly exited the useless piece of metal.

Peter watched him get out, before opening his own door and hastily exiting the vehicle. He looked over at Steve as he walked to the back of the car, where Steve stood waiting for him.

“He won’t mind. He likes it when people he likes ask him for help.” Peter tried, looking at Steve with wide eyes.

Steve sighed a little, and wiped a hand down his face.

“It’s not that, Pete.” He said quietly.

“Then what is it?” Peter pushed quickly, stepping in a little closer.

Steve looked at him for a moment, and let out a sigh, not quite meeting his eyes as he began to explain.

“It’s just that, I’m Captain America.” He began as he started walking in the direction of Peter’s apartment, intending on escorting the younger man home. Peter watched him walk a few steps, then jumped to catch up with him, pulling his coat tighter around him as he did. “If I’m honest, kid, it’s a little embarrassing to have to depend on my rich friend all the time. And I appreciate everything he does, I mean, he bought me a place in Brooklyn, and then he got me this place here. I just wish I could support myself for a bit, without having to ask him for help.”

Peter looked up at him, feeling a little bad for having asked such a prying question now that he knew the answer. Ducking his head, he mumbled out a little apology for pushing and allowed them to fall into a silence for a few meters.

“How much further to your place?” Steve asked suddenly.

“Oh, not much further. Just that shop over there, across from the alleyway.” Peter answered, his eyes flickering to the alleyway he could see, even a few blocks away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” He quietly offered, not feeling his first apology had truly been accepted.

Steve chuckled a little and dropped a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, kid. All of us go through something at some point. I guess right now, life is trying to teach me that it’s okay to ask for help.” He offered gently, looking down at Peter with a fond smile.

Peter readily returned this, before looking down at the street.

“Hey, um. I don’t think I properly thanked you for helping me the other night.” He said quietly. “Thank you.”

“It’s quite alright, Peter.” Steve answered quickly, keeping his warm smile in place as Peter continued to look down.

“Thanks for not getting mad about me running away either.” He mumbled.

Steve’s smile faltered for just a second, but he quickly threw away any negative thoughts in his mind, only wanting Peter to feel welcomed back into their small family once again.

“I’m just happy you’re okay.” Is what ended up coming out. He let out a silent sigh of relief when Peter looked up at him, a small smile on his face.

They walked on in silence for a few minutes, Steve keeping a hand on Peter’s shoulder as they finally arrived at the small shop below Peter’s apartment. He was about to open his mouth to say some final words of encouragement when a scuffle was heard in the alleyway. He watched with some curiosity as Peter let out a dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes, pushing past Steve as little and stepping into the street. Steve followed quickly, not wanting Peter to become injured once again.

“Peter, hold up! I’m coming with you!” He called, taking to small nod he received in response as an indication that he was indeed welcome to help.

The two crossed the street quickly, both wary of possible doppelgangers hanging about now that Peter had faced more than one Mark. An odd thing occurred as they crossed the road. Peter, who had been alone for nearly half-a-year, unintentionally stepped out in front of Steve, unconsciously taking the lead away from the captain. Steve noted this with a simple cocked eyebrow and small bewildered smile, happily stepping back to watch how Peter would handle the situation. He may have stepped back, however, that did nothing to ease his tense muscles, ready to spring into action at the first sign of danger, knowing Peter’s protection was the priority.

They approached the alleyway, dimly light by street lights and the last bits of sunlight still clinging to the sky. As Peter narrowed his eyes, his enhanced vision easily saw the man standing at the end. His heart picked up a little as he recognised the doppelganger, but, knowing Steve was not so subtly watching him, he clenched his fists and moved forward, feeling Steve’s presence close behind.

Walking forward with a confidence he did not feel, Peter met the man’s eyes, and engaged.

“Bit early for a mugging, isn’t it?” He called as he and Steve walked through the alleyway. The man remained still, his back against the brick wall as he watched the two with bright eyes.

“Not at all, Mr. Parker.” The man replied with a smooth tone and wide, sadistic smile, “In fact, tonight I have not been dispatched on such a trivial mission.”

Peter raised an eye brow, stopping a few meters away from where the man stood. He quickly took in the man’s large appearance, his face cloaked by the dark hoodie he wore, but his green eyes beaming unnaturally in the dark. Peter pushed out his chin and purposefully folded his arms.

“Who dispatched you?” He asked loudly.

The man chuckled and shook his head lightly.

“That is not for you to know.”

“We don’t want to hurt you.” Steve said with a gentleness with tense and prepared body betrayed.

The man let out an amused huff.

“Captain, believe me when I say there is no possible way you could hurt me.” 

Peter felt his arm tingle as the man said these words, not a current threat, but one in the near future.

With a loud roar, the man charged forward, pulling a large knife out as he did. Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes once again as he charged forward. The man, like the others, was very fast, but armed with only a knife, he was no real threat two the two men. 

Despite his lack of anxiety over the situation, he could almost see the way Cap was assessing and planning out the fight, a fight that Peter really did not have the time, nor energy, to have.

Waiting until the last second, Peter allowed the man to come closer as he raised the knife, he ducked, swinging around and kicking the knife out of the mans hands, jumping to his other foot and kicking the man into the wall just enough that he made a loud thud on impact. With the situation handled, Peter turned and offered Steve a cheeky smile, adjusting his glasses as he did.

“What do you think? I could be the next Captain America?” He asked with a small chuckle as Steve gave him a confused look.

“How did you take him down so easily? You got shot last time!” He exclaimed, eyes wide as he moved to stand next to Peter, looking down at the un-conscious man.

Peter shrugged slightly.

“Can’t outrun a bullet, Cap. Besides, the other times I had to tone it down in front of non-avenger people.”

Steve sighed slightly, casting a worried look over at Peter.

“So you let yourself get shot?” 

Peter gave him an exasperated look.

“No. I just can’t outrun a bullet.” He said with a playful tone of annoyance.

Steve couldn’t help but chuckle, elbowing Peter slightly as he crouched in front of the unconscious man.

“Well,” he said, keeping his eyes trained on him. “Want to help me take him in?”

Peter looked down at him, adjusting his winter coat as he did. He couldn’t explain why, but standing here, looking down at the criminal with Cap just made him happy, happier than he had been in months. It came with a wave of memories. He bit his lip, recalling the times he and Mr. Stark had spent on the streets of New York. Specifically, the few times they had fought together, how Mr. Stark would always ruffle his hair and tell him he’d done well.

“Kid? You okay?” Steve asked, breaking Peter out of his reverie. 

Peter snapped his head down, finding Steve looking up at him with a concerned expression.

“Oh, uh, yeah! Um, yeah, I’ll take him in with you.” He said quickly, watching as Steve simply turned and threw the unconscious man over his shoulder, standing as though there was no added weight.

They turned to exit the alley way, now shrouded in darkness, butt, as they took a few steps forward, Peter felt the hairs on his arm stand on end. Instinctively, he threw out his arm, stopping Steve mid step as he looked towards the end of the alleyway. He frowned, nothing appeared to be out of place. But he knew better than to ignore his spidey-senses.

“Pete, what is it?” Steve asked quietly, leaning forward a little, eyes darting between Peter and the empty alley before them.

“Shh.” Peter hissed, narrowing his eyes.

He could feel something in the air around them, something different to the winter breeze that blew past them, and different still to the cold tinge in the winter air. Suddenly, a glow appeared in front of them, a round, blue portal opened only for a nano second and before them appeared another doppelganger, this time, prepared for a fight, gun ready to take them both down. 

Steve and Peter stared, slack jawed, not quite able to believe what had happened right before their very eyes. The man grinned at the pair, but waved his gun a little, drawing their attention back to the situation at hand.

“Mr. Rogers.” The man said, eyeing Steve, before dragging his eyes over to Peter. “Mr. Parker.”

Peter felt Steve tense behind him, the older man pushing past Peter with the unconscious Mark still over his shoulder. 

“Who are you?” Steve demanded, eyes hard and narrowed.

The man chuckled, his green eyes glowing in the darkness.

“That is no concern of yours. I have merely come to collect what is not yours. The master cannot afford to lose many more of us.” He said, waving his gun at the unconscious Mark.

Peter watched as Steve seemed to instinctively step in front of him, and, for once, felt incredibly grateful for his protective nature as he watched the new Mark wave his gun around. Peeking out around Steve’s side, he spoke up.

“We aren’t super keen on giving you this guy.” He said quickly.

The Mark’s eyes narrowed and focused in on him.

“Mr. Parker, I am surprised to hear such words from you given the circumstances of our last encounter, I would have assumed you’d have learnt your lesson. However, it seems you’ve developed a taste for bullets.” He snapped back, raising his gun, barrel aimed directly at Peter’s head.

“Woah, woah!” Steve cried, stepping to the side to completely cover Peter. “What do you say to maybe not shooting us.”

The Mark almost growled.

“Give me him and I will let you go. My master requires him.” He said, his voice dripping with intent, and peppered with a little desperation.

“I can’t do that, son.” Steve said, gripping the Mark on his shoulder a little tighter.

The Mark before them moved the gun to Steve’s chest.

“Captain, I will not hesitate to shoot the bot through you. Give him to me.”

Peter felt his breath falter a little, and sub-consciously pressed closer to Steve’s back, feeling safer there.

“Captain, I am aware of more than you realise.” The man continued after Steve hesitated in his response. “I am aware that you are good friends with Ms. Romanov. A woman who has few friends, I am sure she would be heart broken by your um-timely departure from this world.”

Peter felt Steve stiffen further, holding his breath, anxious to see how the captain would respond.

Finally, Steve let out a ragged breath, and stepped forward, sliding the unconscious Mark off of his shoulder and roughly thrusting him in the direction of the newest arrival.

The man beamed.

“Good choice, Captain.” He said.

Suddenly, he smacked his hand on a watch-like device on his wrist, and, just as before, a small, blue portal opened for just a nano-second, and they both vanished, leaving Steve and Peter alone in the darkened alleyway.

The two stood in stunned silence, Peter still standing as close to Steve as he could, his hands visibly shaking.

“What the hell.” He whispered, eyes wide.

Steve turned quickly to him, gripping his arms tightly.

“Peter, are you okay?” He asked, his own eyes wide and concerned.

Peter nodded dumbly for a second.

“Uh, yeah. Um, did he just come and go through a portal?” He asked, his voice squeaking a little as he pointed at the now vacant alley before them. 

Steve turned, taking his hands off of Peter’s arms and looking at the alleyway suspiciously.

“Um, yeah.”

They returned to a stunned silence once again. Peter waited for the feeling within him to fade, waited for his hand to stop shaking like it usually did after he got a scare. But it did not cease shaking. He frowned, there was no way he would be able to sleep tonight without peering out of his living room window and into the alleyway every five minutes.

“Um, Steve?” He began, waiting for the Captain to turn to him once again.

“Yeah?”

“Um, do you think I could stay with you tonight?” He asked, widening his eyes a little, knowing it was a lot to ask from the other man. “Like just crash on your couch maybe? I just, um, I just don’t think I can stay at mine tonight.” He finished, looking down at the ground, ashamed.

He felt Steve drop a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Of course you can, Pete.” He replied.

Peter whipped his head up, and sent Steve a grateful smile.

Eager to leave the alleyway, the two quickly jogged to Peter’s apartment where he shoved some supplies into his backpack. As he quickly shoved his pyjamas in and some clothes for the next day, he couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious of his apartment. It was tony compared to Steve’s. Hiding an embarrassed blush, he moved quickly, and soon enough, they were on their way to Steve’s apartment. 

The two enjoyed each other’s company, eating pizza together at Steve’s small kitchen table as they distracted themselves from the events of the evening.   
“So,” Steve said, his tone very different to how it had been the majority of the night, an undercurrent of concern weaving in, the empty pizza boxes sitting neglected on the table between them. “You want to talk about it?”

Peter looked at him for a long moment, unsure exactly what he was wanting to talk about. Steve gave him a kind smile upon seeing his uncertainty.

“Tony.” He clarified. “Want to talk about what happened after I left New York last time?”

“Oh.” Peter said a little dumbly, lowering his eyes to the table and fiddling with his hands.

“Peter, when I left I know you and Tony had a fight in the hanger after we got Ned. But I had no idea how bad it was between you two. I mean, Tony said you didn’t speak for a year.”

Peter swallowed and bit his lip, staring down at his lap, a deep feeling of insecurity swirling within him.

“Um.” He breathed, his throat feeling oddly tight. “I don’t know. I guess we just needed some space.”

Steve watched him carefully, not wanting to push him too hard, but wanting him to share all the same.

“Pete, you don’t have to tell me.” He said gently, leaning forward. “But you might feel better if you do.”

Peter continued to stare down at his hands, finally, he shook his head.

“I’m not ready.” He said quietly, quickly biting his lip once again.

Steve held back a sigh, but reached over and patted Peter’s shoulder gently.

“It’s okay, Peter. You can talk when you’re ready.” He assured the younger man.

Peter looked up with wide eyes, shooting Steve a small, grateful smile as a silence fell between the two.

“Well!” Steve said suddenly, startling Peter a little. “I don’t know about you, but I am ready to call it a night.” He announced with a smile.

Peter nodded, feeling his own eyes growing a little heavy.

“You’ll be sleeping in my guest room.” Steve explained, picking up the pizza boxes from the table and placing them in the bin. “Feel free to let yourself in or out in the morning. Just leave a note if I’m not here or if you go before I wake up, just so I know you’re okay.”

Standing now, Peter followed Steve through the living room and down a short hallway, containing only three doors. One of which, Peter assumed, was the bathroom. They stopped at Peter’s door and Steve patted his shoulder a little, offering Peter a comforting smile.

“Listen, Pete.” Steve said quietly, leaving him for a quick moment and grabbing an envelope that sat on a table just inside the doorway of his own bedroom. “Tony asked me to give this to you.”

Peter stared at the envelope, and then back at Steve. But, biting his lip slightly, he gingerly reached out, accepting the envelope from Steve.

Ruffling his hair, Steve offered one final fatherly smile, before retreating to his own room, leaving Peter to the privacy of the guest room for the remainder of the evening.

 

 

 

Time is an odd thing, it’s personal, and yet shared. When you think something incredibly profound is happening only to you, another, possibly more important event, could be simultaneously occurring. And so, and Peter and Steve spent their evening re-connecting, another, more monumental event occurred not too far away.

In a large, old factory in chilly Pennsylvania, a small blue light appeared above a landing platform for only a nano-second. As suddenly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving between two Marks. One, still holding a gun, the other, slung un-consciously across his shoulder. 

Mark looked about the room, taking in the familiar sight of the computers surrounding the landing platform, each station operated by another Mark. Each Mark working together to serve the Master as efficiently as possible. He sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he observed them.

He watched as two approached him, removing from him his unconscious doppelganger. He happily placed him in their arms, eager to rid of the irritating weight of the other man.

“How was your mission?” A deep, raspy voice called from the other side of the platform.

Mark supressed a surprised gasp and spun around. The Master had come to greet him. He quickly lowered his eyes and bowed his head, remembering what happened the last time he failed to do this.

“Master.” He greeted, noticing some others had paused their work to subtly observe their interaction. “The mission was successful. I retrieved the latest Mark as you requested. He was unconscious upon my arrival sir. It seems he was caught in an altercation with Steve Rogers and Peter Parker.”

The Master stepped forward, into the light. Mark had always longed to see his face, however, the master trusted no one, not even his own henchmen. And so, it was with disappointment that his eyes fell upon a masked face.

“Any sign of Stark while you were there?” The Master asked.

“No, sir.” Mark answered quickly.

The Master seemed to study him for a long moment, before shoving his hands in his jacket and walking closer to Mark, stopping only a few feet away.

“Ready the portals, I want the other’s here for the invasion as soon as possible.” He said quietly, eyes narrowing a little. “And keep me updated on the where-about of any of those dammed heroes.”

“Yes, sir. And what earth shall we be greeting them on?”

Mark swore he saw the Master smile beneath the mask.

“Right here. Earth-199998.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I made my own universe. #causeican :)
> 
> Thanks for reading so far!


	9. A Chat

Peter frowned heavily as he sat at his desk in the small office. Even he didn’t want to be there, despite the very generous bonus Elroy had offered him for working Christmas Eve. He’d left Steve’s apartment early that morning, a quickly scribbled note taped to the fridge as he came in to edit photos and proof read some articles for Elroy. He’d been at it for several hours, and had been making excellent progress when he heard the office door open and close behind him. He thought nothing of this, the team often came and went as they pleased. Despite this, he nearly jumped when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He snapped up from his seat and spun around, grabbing the person’s wrist and twisting so it was pressed up hard against their back.

“Kid! It’s me!” Steve cried, face a little red from the sudden change of cold to warm, and the pain that Peter was currently inflicting upon him.

Instantly, Peter let go of arm and stepped back, his own cheeks warming with embarrassment. 

“Steve! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise!” He cried, watching as the large man turned and rubbed his wrist a little.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have scared you.” He said with an awkward grin.

Peter huffed out a half-hearted chuckle.

“How’d you get in?” He asked.

“Well, the girl at reception just looked at me an and decided I wasn’t a threat.” Steve replied with a bashful grin.

“Oh! Susan!” He said, eyes widening. “I didn’t even know she was here!”

He looked towards the doorway, a little conscious that she would be able to hear their conversation given they were the only other people in the building.

Steve eyed him a little, but then gave him a smile.

“Don’t worry. I asked for Richard.” He said, happy to see Peter relax a little.

Peter stared at him for a second, happy to see him, but confused.

“So, uh. What brings you here?” He asked, his voice getting annoyingly pitchy at the end.

Steve chuckled a little.

“Well, I don’t know what you had planned for lunch, but I was hoping you’d let me get you something.”

Peter nodded, eager to spend time with Steve.

“Yeah, that sounds great!” He replied, walking towards the door to the reception area.

Steve followed behind, smiling happily at Peter, glad that the boy was not trying to run away. They walked into the reception area where Susan greet them with warm smiles, commanding them to stay warm as they steeped out into the chilly street.

“So, where did you have in mind?” Peter asked, gripping his coat and scarf tighter in an attempt to stay warm.

“Well, Tony said that the café’s a few blocks down are nice. You want to have a look?”

Peter raised his eyebrows and scoffed, despite eagerly following Steve down the footpath in the direction he had indicated.

“If Mr. Stark recommended it, it will probably cost me my rent!” He huffed sarcastically, trilled when he heard Steve’s amused chuckle.

“You’re probably not wrong, kid.” He agreed, nudging Peter’s shoulder a little. “But I’ve seen Tony eat at some real shit holes, so maybe this place will be in our budget.”

Peter chuckled to himself. He’d never seen Mr. Stark eat at anyplace that didn’t provide table service and crystal glasses, with the exception of his own home.

They walked together, falling into a comfortable silence as they approached a strip of small cafes, each bustling with friends and families eager to see each other before Christmas. Peter smiled, taking in the friendly atmosphere, and ignoring the startled looks people gave Steve.

“This is it.” Steve announced as they stopped out the front of a quaint café.

Peter took it in. It was not a place he could imagine Tony eating at. It was cheap looking, but somehow homey and warm at the same time, with a happy bell that rang as they entered the quite café.

They sat down in a booth near the back of the café and quickly ordered some food. The comfortable silence of earlier returned as they ate together, however, Peter suspected the Captain had a goal in mind for this lunch outing. He was not a man who would normally lunch with friends for no reason. The goal quickly became clear as Steve cleared his throat.

“Look, Peter.” He began, “I was hoping to talk to you about Tony for a second, if that’s okay.”

Peter stared at him for a moment, but nodded slowly. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to discern where Steve would be leading this conversation.

“I know you’re not ready to talk about it, but, I was hoping that maybe you’d be willing to listen to me for a bit?” Steve asked with wide eyes and open hands.

Peter nodded once again, desperately swallowing against the lump in his throat. Steve sighed a little, looking down at the table before returning his eyes to Peter.

“When Tony and I first met, we did not get along well at all.” Steve began, satisfied to see Peter listening attentively. “When snapped at each other whenever we were not fighting a common enemy. Even before Germany, at our best, we still disagreed regularly. But then, a few years ago, something happened that forced us to put aside our differences. Even then, we still butted heads, hell, you saw what happened at his wedding, he didn’t really want me there, it was just a peace offering.”

Peter watched intently as Steve spoke, his heart beating quickly.

“Peter, since then, Tony and I have still not seen eye-to eye. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t care for each other.” Steve continued. “I know that I would not hesitate to help him if he needed it, and he would do the same for me. Peter, Tony has done so much for me, even though there are times we’d barely consider each other friends. Even at our lowest moments, I know he’d be there. He’s a kind man, Peter.”

Peter lowered his head a little, nodding slightly.

“I know.” He mumbled, looking back up, just past Steve, he pushed on. “It’s just that, you know, I could never live up to him. You know? He wanted me to be better than him, but, I messed it up!”

“It’s okay, Peter.” Steve said quickly, reaching out a hand to soothe him. 

Peter felt his lip quiver as he hunched back into the booth slightly, avoiding the curious gaze of the hostess.

“But it’s not, Steve.” He whined softly. “He told me he wanted me to be better than him. He told me that! And all I’ve done since then is mess up!”

“And that’s okay!” Steve assured him earnestly.

Peter looked up at him with wide eyes. Sighing, he took off his glasses and placed them on the table.

“Look at me, Steve. I’m a mess! You really Tony want’s me around to make his life harder?”

“Yes! He does.” Steve said, his voice calm and certain against Peter’s wavering tone. “Peter, I assure you, Tony isn’t mad at you. He’s just worried! You saw him the other day, he didn’t yell or scream at you, he was happy to have you there helping him.”

“He was mostly unconscious; I don’t think that counts.” Peter quipped, biting his lip as he saw Steve repress another sigh.

“I know you’ve made mistakes.” Steve tried again after a long silence. “We all have. Hell, you saw my mistakes, you’ve seen Tony’s. But the great thing about family is that we forgive each other and move on. Sure, Tony and I still have problems, but we had problems before we fell out. You and he have always had a connection, and you can still have that if you’re willing to put in the work to restore the relationship.”

Peter looked down at the table for a long moment, chewing over Steve’s words.

“I don’t know if I’m worth all the trouble.” He finally said.

Steve studied him for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek, almost deciding whether or not to speak.

“Peter, can I be blunt with you?” He finally said.

Peter looked up at him for a long moment, before nodding, giving him permission to continue.

“You really hurt him. And I’m guessing it wasn’t just him. It was probably May and Ned, and the girl you talk about as well.” Steve began.

“MJ.” Peter muttered, feeling a sting of guilt rush through him.

“MJ.” Steve repeated. “I’m not going to tell you they’re all going to jump in and forgive you as easily as Tony has. But you owe it to them to let them know you’re safe.”

Peter’s eye’s slipped back down to the table, his heart heavy with Steve’s words.

“I get that you were scared, Peter. I do, we’ve all been there as heroes. We’ve all made bad calls. But at the end of the day, you need to acknowledge it, and move on. No one is calling for your arrest, especially since you saved thousands. It’s time to stop living in this guilt and self-pity, you need to forgive yourself and move on with your life.”

Peter bit his lip hard, wet, hot anger swelling in him at Steve’s words and causing his eyes to water a little.

“I’m not dwelling in self-pity.” He bit back, unable to meet Steve’s eyes.

“What have you been doing then, Peter?” Steve asked.

Peter opened his mouth uselessly and gestured at nothing.

“You’ve been hiding. You’ve literally run away from your problems! And in doing so, created more problems for yourself to face in the future.” Steve said calmly, his eyes fixed firmly on Peter’s now blotchy face.

Peter stared at his hands, ignoring the tear that fell down his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered.

“No, Peter.” Steve said, seeming to finally come to the end of his patience. “I’ve seen you do this before. You run away rather than dealing with your problems. You did it when Tony and I said you couldn’t go to Siberia. You did it when you and Tony disagreed on what situations you could be in. And you’ve done it now. This needs to end. You need to deal with your problems!”

“I didn’t run away from Tony when I was in New York. He pushed me away because he said he needed time!” Peter snapped back.

“Yes, time to figure out how the two of you would work going forward! And I agree, it was a mistake on his part. But Peter, that’s it, it was mistake and he owned up to it. And as far as I’m aware, he tried to restore the relationship.”

“He didn’t trust me!”

“Because you were a kid! If you got hurt on his watch he would have been responsible!”

Peter huffed and crossed his arms.

“You’re not a kid anymore, Peter.” Steve said, taking a deep breath to regain his composure. “Legally and emotionally. You’re a man. You need to communicate with people, be open with them. Because while cutting people out might make you feel protected, it actually just hurts the people who love you the most.”

“Yes, but even after May was in hospital, and MJ and Ned. He still wouldn’t let me do anything without him there.”

“And that was a good call, Peter.” Steve said, his tone sharp. “You were emotional and probably not in the best position to make good judgement calls. That’s something Tony knows a lot about. And so it makes sense that he would helicopter you while you’re loved ones were injured.”

“I was fine!” Peter snapped, his eyes flicking to finally meet Steve’s with a glare.

“No, you weren’t. You still aren’t!” Steve insisted. “When you and I worked together, you made a bad, emotional call to run off and get Ned without us. Something that nearly got you killed. Peter, no one does their best when they’re grieving or traumatised. And Tony knows that better than anyone.”

Peter hesitated, knowing that this version of the argument was not going to end in his favour.

“Okay, fine.” He said. “He still chose to walk away!”

“And I just said he was wrong to do that.” Steve agreed. “But he tried, Peter. He tried to do better afterwards. Besides, that’s not the issue we’re facing, because you and he dealt with this already. We’re dealing with your inability to deal with your problems.”

Peter sighed dramatically.

“So, what? You think he’ll just forgive me for running off? He’ll forgive me for ruining his reputation.”

“Yes!” Steve insisted. “He already has. You didn’t ruin his reputation, that man was lying to you, he manipulated you to destroy your relationship with Tony. Believe me when I say Tony’s rep has never been better.”

Peter looked at him hesitantly, his anger melting away slowly. He looked back down at the table for a long moment, fear filling his heart as he dared to believe he was forgiven.

“Okay.” He whispered, looking back at Steve. “I’ll talk to him.”

Steve offered him a kind smile, and gently squeezed his hand in reassurance. 

 

 

Tony sat behind the desk in his hotel room, idly preparing for his video call in a few minutes, but half watching Nat out of the corner of his eye. It was a hard habit to break, but despite how many times he told himself he could trust her, he still never felt he could leave her alone with anything too valuable. Right now, he watched as she skimmed through her notes for the call, sitting on a wheelie chair on the opposite side of the desk, but he had a feeling that she was also watching him, not fully trusting him either. But he knew it was minor issue between the two, neither of them would actually intentionally hurt the other. He was, however, a little curious about her personal life, and knowing she wouldn’t have time to get too angry before the call, he decided to push it a little. He cleared his throat, getting her attention. 

She looked up from her papers, meeting his eyes briefly before raising an eyebrow.

“What?”

He narrowed his eyes, studying for a reaction from her.

“How long have you and Steve been a thing?” He asked.

To his delight, he got a physical response from her. A small patch of red appeared on her cheek, causing him to bite back a small, teasing chuckle.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said smoothly, only the lingering red on her cheeks betraying her cool expression. 

Tony did nothing to hide his laughter this time, earning a small glare in response.

“Please! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you show an interest in anyone before, other than that weird fling you and Bruce had!” He put down the Starkpad and leaned forward on his elbow, eyes glinting a little and his expression playful. “Tell me, Nat, what’s going on. You in love?”

Nat rolled her eyes, snatching the Starkpad from him and hurridly bringing up the specially made app Tony designed to communicate with the guardians. 

“There’s nothing there.” She repeated, her eye’s not meeting his.

Tony frowned a little, realising he must have hit a sore spot with his favourite spy.

“But, you do like him, right?” He asked, still teasing, but slightly softer.

“I’m not in high school, Tony.” She snapped back through gritted teeth.

He frowned, watching her closely. Leaning forward, he gently took the pad out of her hands, leaving her to watch him with irritation.

“You like Cap.” Tony stated gently, studying her face.

She stared at him, holding his gaze for a few moments before letting out a long sigh and looking away.

“Wow!” Tony exclaimed, genuinely surprised by the outcome of the conversation. “I mean, that’s great! You guys could get together and have good looking kids who become super soldiers and spies and take over the world.”

She sighed dramatically, but looked down at her lap. Tony watched her curiously, trying to piece together the puzzle. Finally, he realised why she was not happy.

“Oh.” He finally said, a little dumbly. “It’s not reciprocated.”

She continued to look down at her hands, shaking her head slightly.

“I’m sorry, Nat.” He offered quietly. “I didn’t realise. Do you want me to talk with him?”

She let out a small, sad laugh.

“No, Tony. Don’t do that.” She finally said. “It’s probably for the best. Besides, we all know he hates talking about anyone that isn’t you or Peggy when it comes to his love life.” She added with a cheeky grin of her own, one that did not quite reach her eyes.

Tony chuckled, not amused, but wanting to help her feel at ease.

“Yes, Cap’s famous man-crush on the very handsome Tony Stark.” He added, happy to see her smile again. “He handled that one well.” He continued dryly. “How many times do you think he thought of just murdering me and being done with it during those first few years?”

Nat laughed, truly amused.

“Probably every day. You were a bit of a brat.”

“Who, me!” He said, his voice dripping with faux offence and he place a hand on his heart. “I was the most mature person on the team!”

He let his expression drop into an open smile as she openly laughed, once again relaxed in his presence. 

“Well,” He continued. “As much as I would love to list all of my wonderful qualities, we really should be calling Quill and Rocket. You ready?

Nat nodded, her smile falling into a serious line, not one that looked unhappy, rather, a focussed one.

“Ready. Let’s do this.”

He quickly took back the pad and waved it in the general direction of the plain wall behind him, causing the blue screen to appear, dialling the guardians. Only a few seconds later, both Quill and Rocket appeared on the screen.

“Hi Peter, Rocket.” Nat greeted as soon as their faces were shown, sending them both warm, genuine smiles. 

They both greeted her back.

“How’s space?” Tony asked, reaching for his phone and bringing up some notes.

“Spacious. How’s earth?” Rocket quipped back.

Tony chuckled lightly, sending his friend a warm look.

“Oh, you know, the usual.” He said, sighing and deciding to get straight to the point. “The Vice President won’t let us proceed until I can prove I’m responsible by finding Spider-Man.”

Quill and Rocket both sighed.

“That sucks, dude.” Quill said, a small frown on his face. “How’re you going with it?”

Thankfully, Nat answered for him.

“We sent Steve out this morning to take the kid out for lunch. He’s formed a bit of a bond with the kid over the last week or so, so we’re hoping he’ll be able to talk Peter into meeting up with Tony.”

Tony held back his grimace, not wanting to feel the rising jealousy that he did at Nat’s words.

Rocket seemed to see this, and, concerned for his friend, spoke up.

“Stark, you doing alright with that? I know that kid means a lot to you.” He asked, gentleness soothing over his usually brash tone.

Tony snorted a little, leaning back in his seat, completely missing the worried looks shared between Nat and the two guardians.

“It’s fine. Just one estranged friend looking for another.” He quipped. “Should be fine, I think Peter is bonding well to his new mentor.”

Nat sighed beside him, but said nothing of his sudden green burst.

“How about you two? Anything at your end we should be aware of?” She asked, moving the conversation away from Peter as she watched Tony clench and un-clench his jaw. 

Quill and Rocket shared a look, before turning back the two earth dwellers.

“Actually yeah. We’ve had one or two things come up.” Quill began, sounding a little unsure of himself. “A few weird things happening around here.”

“Like what?” Tony asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“Well.” Rocket said, drawing out the word in a manner that made Tony feel far more anxious than anything else. “We’ve had a couple of doppelganger encounters.”

Tony and Nat shared a worried glance.

“Like what Steve told us about, and the captain.” Nat whispered, eyes wide.

“You two know something you want to share?” Quill pressed

“Nothing extraordinary until last night.” Tony said, looking at Nat to continue.

“Last night Steve told us he and Peter encounter a doppelganger on earth. We’d been hearing about him for a while, goes by the name Mark. We thought he was just a mutant out for fun. But Steve told us he teleported using a watch.” Nat explained.

Quill and Rocket exchanged a shocked look.

“Mark?” Quill asked, his eyes wide and voice shaking a little.

“You’ve had a run in?” Nat asked, coming to the edge of her seat.

“Yeah, ran into a few of them on out latest trip past Knowhere. A bunch of them tried to attack the ship, but we got away pretty easily.”

“You mean these things are all through the galaxy? Not just on earth?” Tony asked quickly, his heart rate escalating quite rapidly.

“Oh no.” Nat e whispered to herself, before speaking louder for the group. “That would imply that this is a threat to the entire galaxy, not just here. Guys, this could be Thanos all over again.”

The entire group stiffened as she spoke, backs straightened and eyes narrowed.

“You really think the mad Titan is back? Thought we defeated him in battle.” Quill said, his voice hard and even.

“Well, it is possible that he escaped.” Nat explained.

“He wouldn’t need to.” Tony said, leaning forward. “All that needed to go was the idea he carried. If one of his closer accomplices got by, they may be the cause of these appearances.”

“Yes, but.” Rocket began cautiously. “Thanos isn’t the only big bad in the universe.”

“What do you mean?” Nat asked, eyeing him cautiously.

“Well, think about it. The universe is massive, infinitely so. That means that believing Thanos is the only guy out there wanting to destroy all life is a pretty small minded assumption.” Tony concluded for Rocket, watching as his friend nodded sadly.

They sat in silence for a long moment, each lost in their thoughts.

“What about the multi-verse machine?” Quill asked suddenly, startling each of them out of their own heads.

“What about it?” Tony asked, drawing his eyebrows together. “You guys shot that down pretty quickly before.”

“And for good reason.” Quill added before explaining. “They were identical doppelgangers. Could it be, that somewhere out there, someone else has already invented a machine to jump through the multi-verse?”

Nat frowned heavily.

“It would make sense. If there is an infinite number of universes, someone out there must have had the idea by now.”

Something akin to a spider-sense washed over Tony, the hair on his arms standing up, a fore-warning of a distant danger.

“Perhaps if we were to begin construction on our own-“ He began.

“No,” Nat said quickly. “It’s too dangerous, besides, we have no idea if that is the cause of the doppelgangers.”

“Yeah, she’s right man, that’s a pretty big leap.” Quill agreed.

“What!” Tony lifted a hand in exasperation, “It was your idea!”

“Sorry dude.” Quill said with a small smile, holding up his own hands.

Rolling his eyes, he turned to Rocket.

“What do you think?” He asked, a silent plea in his voice.

Rocket looked trapped, staring between Nat and Quill, and then Tony. Finally, he sighed.

“Look. I think Stark is right. I think we should build the machine just as a pre-caution. We can always take it apart later.” He finally said, looking a little guilty as he did so. “But, I don’t think we should use it unless it’s one hundred percent necessary!” He added, eyeing Tony warily.

Tony felt a triumphant smile spread across his face.

“I’d kiss you if you were here!” He exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and taking his phone with him, already sending plans through to Rocket.

“Woah, woah! Hold up.” Quill called out. “Just because Rocket agreed doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. We should talk to Captain America about this as well.”

Tony rolled his eyes once again.

“Seriously! Cap’s just going to give another speech to turn us off of the road of science and discovery!” He complained.

“Which might not be a bad thing right now.” Nat said, her patience slipping a little.

“Oh come on! All I’m asking is that these two meet us upstate so Rocket and I can at least look over the plans together in person.” Tony pleaded, widening his eyes a little, knowing it would work on Nat.

She narrowed her own back at him, the two holding eye contact for a long moment before Nat finally let out a defeated sigh.

“Fine.” She said. “But you get to tell Steve.”


	10. Christmas

Christmas morning finally arrived, with a cheerful amount of fluffy snow and high spirits. This, of course, extended beyond our heroes, and to the ones we may consider our foes. And so, Christmas morning found The Master placing his black mask over his face as he looked out of the window from the room he had converted into his own in his secret lair. The plan was succeeding, the other worlds had responded quickly to his request to a meeting, and were probably waiting for him to call in on their comm screens. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to breath. Stress and anxiety had been his enemy in the past, and now, as he stood on the verge of world domination, they threatened again. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck, feeling satisfied as small pops escaped. Finally, feeling ready to face the others, he stepped out of his room and came face-to face with his favourite Mark.

“Good morning Master.” The man said, his green eyes lowered and head bowed.

“Good morning Mark. Are the others ready?” He asked, smiling at the man’s submission.

“Yes, sir. Each of them are linked in through the comms, and each have received the coordinates to Earth-199998.” The man answered.

The Master nodded, adjusting his mask slightly as he brushed past his Mark and made his way down the metal encased hallway.

“Have you spoken with any of them?” He asked.

His accomplices, while technically allies, could be troublesome at times. However, he had found this Mark to be particularly persuasive in tense situations. Always reminding the others of who was truly in charge. 

“Yes sir. Earth-31780 was a little moody this morning, so I spent a few moments assuring him that you are quite capable of proceeding with the mission.”

The Master chuckled to himself. Earth-31780 was always a little moody, always a little doubtful. He always seemed to require a little more attention than the others, but when he chose to be, he was easily the most brilliant. He was definitely worth the trouble.

“What did you say to him?” He asked, still chuckling.

Mark shrugged a little, posture relaxing a little as he sensed his Master’s mood.

“The usual. That you were conquering worlds long before we arrived at his and recruited him. But without him we would be doing it a snails pace. Just enough to make him realise we don’t really need him, but enough to make him feel wanted.”

The Master slapped a hand on Mark’s shoulder.

“Good job. This is why I trust you with the delicacies of our alliances.” 

Mark smiled a little, his back straightening once again as they arrived at the converted study, the comm screen already alight and the allies waiting for their Master’s arrival. Each of them in masks of their own, desperately hiding their identities until the next world had been conquered.

The Master grinned under his mask as he walked in the room, taking in the large number of screens before him.

“Good morning, allies.” He called out to the ten screens.

“Good morning, Master.” Came the response.

“I’ll make this quick.” He began without pre-amble, wanting to move on with his own plans for the day. “We have located this earths Peter Parker and Steve Rogers, it can be safely assumed that they will lead us to our target.”

A murmur of agreements poured out from the screens.

“Please remember, your identities are not safe on this earth, so you much keep you masks on at all times. Also, you are not to bring any more Mark’s with you until I order it. We cannot afford to lose anymore. Am I understood?”

A louder rush of agreement came forth, causing the Master to smile once again.

“Now, wait until my signal, we will lure our victims here. On my signal, we will attack together. Until then, good day.”

The comm screens went black, leaving The Master and his Mark alone once again. Turning to Mark, he found the man with a phone to his ear, obviously listening to a caller. He raised an eyebrow, desite Mark not being able to see it. Walking over, he soke softly.

“Who is it?” He demanded, not at all harshly, almost soothingly, wanting Mark to remain calm in his presence.

Mark put his palm over the microphone.

“Vice President Fower, sir.” He said quietly.

The Master nodded, and held out his hand.

“Ma’am, The Master will speak to you now.” Mark said quickly, placing the phone in his hand. 

The Masted snickered a little at his politeness. In his opinion, the Vice President was a fool, however useful she had been in his little crusade. So far, she had cornered one of their bigger threats for him, barely even lifting a finger to do so.

“Vice President Fower. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked, false charm seeping out of him and infusing itself in every word.

“Good morning, Master.” She replied, her deep and rough voice causing him to cringe a little. “You asked me to call.”

The Master chuckled a little. He did enjoy keeping the woman on her toes.

“Ah, yes. Of course!” He said after a moment. “Did you meet with the target?”

“Yes. He was, as you predicted, and asshole. But he did readily agree to our terms.” She replied quickly, her voice steady despite her heavy breathing, giving away her nerves.

“Yes, he is. But has he communicated with you about anything further? Has he located the spider boy?”

There was a brief pause.

‘No, Master. I have not heard anything from him since our meeting. Although, my own sources tell me your Mark’s have witnessed him in the company of Captain Rogers several times.”

“That is no concern of yours.” The Master snapped.

“Could you not capture the soldier and the spider yourself?”

“Yes, but that would be far too suspicious. It’s better to trick Stark into handing him over to you and then allowing the soldier to turn against him through his volition.” He paused. “Since when have you become comfortable questioning me Fower?”

He heard an audible gulp and grinned ruthlessly.

“Sorry, sir.” She said quietly.

“Yes. You should be.” He snapped despite himself. “Follow up on Stark. I want the spider handled as soon as possible. I will be in touch.”

With that, he threw the phone back to Mark and made his exit. He had a lot to prepare.

 

Tony grinned widely as his video call was answered on the second ring, Pepper’s smiling face greeting him as she lay in their bed, hair splayed across her pillow, almost mirroring his own position.

“Hey honey! Merry Christmas!” He greeted softly, his eyes crinkling a little when she smiled a little wider.

“Merry Christmas, Tony.” She said softly.

He grinned as a small hand appeared in the corner of the screen.

“You got some company there?” He asked, just as a loud giggle came though the phone. “Morgie! Daddy’s here!”

Pepper grinned, turning her phone so Tony could see his little girl, still dressed snugly in her bedtime onsie. 

“Say hello to Daddy, sweetheart.” Pepper murmured quietly, sitting up a little to pull Morgan onto her lap.

The little girl stared at the screen, her face lighting up in a huge, baby grin at the sight of her father.

“Hi baby!” He cooed, grinning stupidly as she flailed her arms about, babbling at Pepper and looking at the screen. “Merry Christmas!”

Pepper snuggled her close, kissing her on the head before turning her eyes back to the screen.

“You should have seen her this morning, Tony. I gave her one of the teddy’s we bought for Christmas. She was so excited! I decided the draw out the gift giving throughout the day, so she still has more presents to open! I filmed it, I’ll send the video to you after we finish chatting.”

Tony felt his smile falter a little, desperately wishing he was there with his little family, rather than in some hotel room miles away.

“Can you save one or two presents until I get home? I want to open some with her.” He asked suddenly.

Pepper frowned a little in a concerned manner.

“Of course.” She readily agreed, before changing the subject. “So, May and Happy are coming over for lunch. They’ll be sending their love to you.”

“Make sure you give them both hugs for me.” He added in quickly.

She chuckled.

“Will do.” She said quickly, before her smile disappeared a little. “What should I say if she asks about Peter?”

Tony frowned a little, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know, Pep.” He sighed. “I mean, I saw him the other day when I passed out, but-“

“You passed out?” She asked, her eye brows knit together in worry. “Tony, honey, are you okay? You didn’t tell me!”

“I didn’t want you to worry!” he insisted.

“What was wrong? When was this? Are you okay now?” She asked quickly.

He held up a hand.

“Yeah, honey. I’m fine now. I just needed some sleep and some food.”

She sighed dramatically, and he felt a little pang of guilt at the disappointed look on her face.

“Tony. I thought we agreed you would quit the all-nighters and the lack of eating. You’ve got Morgan to think about!”

“I’m sorry, honey! I just slipped back into it once I got here. I’m sorry.” He said quickly, feeling horrible for having caused such worry.

Pepper studied him for a long moment, before sighing as she adjusted Morgan on her lap.

“It’s okay Tony. I know you’re trying. I understand.” She said quietly, biting her lip a little.

He offered a small half smile.

“Well, there is the silver lining of Peter. I mean, you saw the press conference, right? I froze!” He said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“No, Tony.” Pepper said, leaning her head back. “You had a full-on panic attack!”

Morgan looked up he mother, a small saliva covered fist reaching for her face, almost in attempt to comfort her. Pepper grabbed her little fist and kissed her head.

“Pep. I’m sorry.” He said quietly, searching her face earnestly.

“Tony, don’t say sorry. We talked about this. You’re not in a great place right now. The doctor said that we should expect some attacks while you recover.”

“Yeah, but I hate this.” He said honestly, wiping a hand over his face.

“I know you do. But you’ve got to take care of yourself if you want to get better. Anxiety and depression don’t just cure themselves over night.” She reminded him as gently as she could. “Did you tell Steve and Nat?”

He huffed out a breath, his eyes moving from the screen and fixing on the curtains across the room.

“I told them about the anxiety stuff, yeah. I figured they’d guess that pretty quickly after I freaked out on them.” He said, hesitating for a long moment. “But I don’t want to tell them about, you know, the other thing.” He finished, lowering his eyes.

A small silence filled the room, and Tony wished Pepper were here, right beside him in this bed. Then she could hold him close and help him through it all.

“Tony, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of people struggle with depression. And considering all the stuff you’ve been through; I’m surprised you weren’t diagnosed earlier.” She said gently, running a soothing hand over Morgan’s head as the little girl began to fuss. 

“I don’t know, Pep. I feel like they’ll just think I’m being dramatic, you know?” He said. He had an odd feeling in his throat, one that often came upon him when he spoke of these things.

“You need to tell them. What if you have another episode and can’t get out of bed?” She pushed as gently as she could.

“I’ll just tell them I don’t feel well.” He insisted.

Pepper sighed, kissing Morgan’s head again.

“Okay.” She said, finally relenting. “But please, Tony, make sure you look after yourself. Try and get to the gym today. The doctor said that exercise would help, especially now that you aren’t in the suit the majority of the time.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He sighed, “I remember.”

“Okay.” She said with a small, comforting smile. “I love you, Tony.”

He smiled back at her, looking between his two girls.

“I love you too, Pepper.”

“Okay, so tell me about Peter. Did you talk to him?”

He silently thanked whoever watched over him for the change in topic.

“Uh, yeah, kinda? I mean, I was only half-conscious. But I said hi, then I passed out and slept for a day. I think Steve’s been spending a lot of time with him.”

“Oh? That’s nice I guess.” She said, her tone not quite matching her words.

“Yeah.” He sighed, running a hand over his chin. “I guess. He said he’d talk to Pete about spending some time together on Christmas, so I guess we’ll see how he went with that when I see him and Nat tonight.”

Pepper smiled once again.

“I’m sure he’ll be there. I’ll let May know you saw him. She’ll be so relieved.” Pepper said quickly.

He felt his smile widen, imaging the look of pure joy on May’s face, knowing her baby was safe.

“Oh! That reminds me!” He said quickly. “Want some gossip?” He asked, a playful grin on his face.

He chuckled as Pepper rolled her eyes.

“No, but you’ll tell me anyway.” She said.

He grinned, knowing she would probably ask him about it when he got home anyway. She only pretended to stay out of people’s lives, but really, she was just as invested in their friendship group gossip as he was.

“Nat likes Steve, but he doesn’t like her back.” He said quickly, giggling slightly at the end.

“Tony, you sound like a fifteen-year-old girl!” Pepper said, eyes slightly narrowed.

“Oh, come on, Pep! That’s gold!” He exclaimed, laughing when her serious demeanour cracked and a smile slipped through.

“Okay, yeah. Maybe it is.” She admitted. “How did you find out, I doubt she would have told you.”

He grinned leaning in to the phone.

“Well, I teased her about it, and that went south real quick, and then when I straight up asked her seriously she said yes. But she said he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Wow, I wonder if she told him and he friend-zoned her or is she’s doing that creepy body reading thing.” Pepper added, leaning forward, deeply invested in this development.

“I know! I was wondering the same thing! I mean, I could ask Steve, but I feel like he’d give me a lecture on respecting people’s privacy or something.”

“Yeah, probably.” She answered with a chuckle.

Somewhere in the room, an alarm went off, causing Pepper to look at the time.

“Oh, it’s nearly ten. May and Happy will be here soon, so I should probably go.” She said, her voice a little sad.

“Oh. Okay.” He said quietly, taking in her face, wishing he could reach through and kiss her. “I miss you. I miss both of you.”

She smiled softly.

“We miss you too. And we both love you a tonne.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll be back right after the New Year. So I’ll see you then. Have fun with Happy and May!”

She gave him one last smile, lifting up Morgan’s hand to wave at him.

“Okay, we love you! Stay safe! Bye!”

His grin faded quickly as soon as she hung up, and a heavy silence fell over the room. He truly wanted to darken the room and just lie on the bed for the rest of the day, but, through a desire to keep his promise to Pepper, forced himself out and quickly threw on some workout clothes, grabbing a towel as he went down to the hotel gym, ignoring the stunned faces of the others guests and some staff as he jogged on the treadmill.

After that, the day passed quickly, and he entertained himself by going over the plans for his machine again and again. Checking and re-checking his work, adding in possible locations of other universes, wondering idly if he existed in other universes. Before he knew it, the sun began to set and he made his way out into the guest carpark, finding his hired car, quickly shoving gifts in the boot and making his way over to Steve’s apartment.

He made it in record time, arriving a little early. And, with his arms filled with goodies, made his way into the building and in front of Steve’s door. He kicked the door lightly, hoping Steve would hear him with no free hands. When there was no response, he called out lightly, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

“Steve?” He called. “Steve, can you open your door?”

He let out a sigh of relief as he heard heavy footsteps crossing the apartment and turned to his side so he could watch the door open.

“Tony!” Steve cried, delighted to see him for a change, a Santa hat resting crookedly on his head. “Merry Christmas! I see you’ve brought enough gifts for my whole building.”

“Yep!” Tony agreed readily, wanting to put them down before his arms gave out. “But the real gift is me being here on time.”

Steve chuckled, and mercifully took some of the wrapped presents out of his arms, leading him into the living room and towards a small, simply decorated Christmas tree in the corner.

“Nat here yet?” He asked, as he placed the gift around the bottom of the tree, trying to get them to look as aesthetically pleasing as possible, something Pepper had teased him for in the past.

“About five minutes away.” Steve answered, closing the door and giving Tony a strange look as he fiddled with the bow on one of the gifts.

“Okay, cool.” He pushed a gift slightly to the lift, swallowing heavily before continuing. “Um, any word from Pete? He coming?” He asked quickly, almost hoping Steve hadn’t heard him.

Steve sighed heavily, leaning against the door frame as Tony decided to stop fidgeting and stood back up.

“Well, the conversation didn’t really go as well as I hoped. I ended up talking at him, which went about as well as you’d expect. But he agreed he’d get in contact with you.”

“Okay.” Tony simply said, then turned and invited himself into the kitchen. “Need any help?”

“Oh!” Steve exclaimed, pushing himself off of the wall. “Um, yeah. I’m not a great cook, but I tried. I know you’re the master there. I know it’s not Christmassy, but I made lasagne, that’s about as fancy as I can get.”

Tony chuckled a little and shook his head.

“Lasagne is fine, Steve. Perfect for a cold, winters night.” He opened a cabinet and whooped slightly as he found the glasses.

Grabbing three, he began to set the table without being asked, thinking of how proud Pepper would be if she saw him now. He chuckled to himself, and guessed where the remained of the dishes were kept, setting it to perfection and giving himself a small nod of approval once he was done. He quickly pulled out his phone and sent a picture to Pepper as a knock sounded at the door.

“Must be Nat.” He said, adjusting a candle on the table to look better in a new picture, as Steve just rolled his eyes as his antics.

“Yeah, one sec.” he said, leaving Tony in the room to open the door.

“Hey, Nat! Merry Christmas!” He heard Steve greet her.

He heard her slightly muffled response, and assumed Steve was giving her a hug. Popping his head around the corner, he gave her a wicked grin and winked, laughing to himself as she glared at him and removed herself from Steve’s friendly hug. Steve looked between them, a little confused as Tony put on his most innocent face.

“Oh, hey, Nat. Good to see you.” He said, walking over and giving her a friendly peck on the cheek.

“Oh fuck off.” She whispered to him, causing him to nearly burst out laughing and she punched him lightly.

She shoved past him and made herself at home in the kitchen, pulling out some wine and two glasses from Steve’s cabinet, pouring one for herself and offering the other to Steve, who quickly accepted it, now without a guilty look in Tony’s direction. 

“Want something, Stark?” Nat asked, her voice dripping with cool politeness that made him want to tease her even more.

“Oh, just water for me, thanks.” He said, accepting the glass handed to him. “So, most important question of the night. Presents before or after dinner?”

“Hmm, maybe after.” Steve said, placing his wine down and opening the oven, revealing a wonderfully golden topped lasagne. “The food is ready.”

“Gah! Boring! Presents are more fun!” Tony whined playfully.

Nat rolled her eyes, chuckling at his display.

“I’m inclined to disagree with you.” She said, sending him a playful glare.

And with that, they sat at the table as Steve served them his home cooked lasagne. The conversation flowed easily as Nat bridged them together, making everyone feel at ease. Finally, after the last of the lasagne had been eaten, Tony declared it was time for presents.

“I hope you like what we got you guys.” He said, reaching up and stealing the Santa hat from Steve’s head. “I’m playing Santa.”

“Hey!” Steve exclaimed, his cheeks a little red.

Tony stuck his tongue out and crouched down by the pile of gifts under the tree. Steve and Nat had only bought two, one for each other guest. But no one felt bad or insecure about Tony’s pile, they knew he would go overboard. He quickly gave out their gifts, and opened the two he received, laughing loudly at the Starbuck’s voucher Nat gave him, but holding tight to her hand-written note. This truly was a night he would cherish forever. 

However, as the hour grew late, he found himself yawning more often than not, and, sometime after eleven, found himself excusing himself so he could go and sleep. He said his goodbyes, offering both friends a hug and peck on the cheek, and refusing Steve’s offer to walk him to his car as he left for the evening.

Only when he got outside did he regret that offer. He quickly opened the car door, fighting off the feeling of being watched.

 

“Tony Stark?” A familiar voice called.

Tony’s head snapped up, and he vaguely wished he’d accepted Steve’s offer to be walked down. He looked around him, seeing no one who could have provided the voice.

“I’m going crazy.” He muttered to himself, opening the door fully again and preparing to slide in.

“Tony Stark.” The voice said again, just as his bottom touched the seat.

He whipped his head around and nearly had a heart attack as he saw a masked man sitting in his back seat. He jumped into action, nearly diving out of the car, a hand instinctively going to his chest, only to find nothing but a button up shirt.

The man stepped out of the car. He was not of an intimidating stature, however, his demeanour startled Tony. He backed away, holding out his hands and moving towards the apartment building.

“Tony Stark. I need you to come with me.” The man said, his voice low, and obviously disguised.

Tony felt his heart rate escalate dangerously, and his throat closing slightly.

“Oh no.” He whimpered slightly, massaging his throat as his hands became shaky. “Not now.”

“Steve!” he called out, as loud as he could, despite the tightness in his throat, desperately hoping Cap would hear him.

The masked man continued to approach him, his eyes narrowing as Tony’s legs gave out, and he felt himself drop to the floor.

“No, come on Stark.” He muttered to himself as a tear slipped down his check, his vision blurring a little.

The man grabbed his collar painfully, dragging him up to look into oddly familiar eyes.

“You’re coming with me.” He said.

“No, no!” Tony cried, his arms feeling useless and weak. “Steve!” He tried again.

He watched in horror as the man’s hand moved closer to the watch like device on his wrist. Suddenly, he felt himself fall to the ground, watching out of the corner of his blurred vision as the man was yanked back by some unknown force. Groaning, he knelt over himself, clenching his fists and dragging in large gulps of air, fighting off the rising anxiety within him.

“No, come on.” He muttered to himself. “Come on, Stark. Get up.”

He opened his eyes just in time to see a flash of blue, and the masked man vanishing into the night, the other man, presumably his rescuer, walked closer, his hoodie low and covering his face. He moaned and closed his eyes again, willing his breathing to even out as he felt the man kneel down next to him, and small, gentle hand on his back.

“Mr. Stark?”

 

It had been hours now, and Tony was still shaking from his anxiety attack, mixed with the over powering adrenaline from the masked man’s attack. But he sat as still as he could in Steve’s lounge room once again, a soft blanket over his shoulders, and two worried faces sat either side of him. He could hear another person in the kitchen, boiling the kettle over the stove, well, he wasn’t sure what the kid was doing. He’d been hiding in there ever since he’d brought Tony up from the street.

“Tony, it’s been a few hours and you’re still shaking.” Steve said gently, wrapping a comforting arm over his shoulders. “Should we call someone? Would Pepper be awake?”

Tony shook his head.

“No, she tries to sleep whenever the baby is down. I don’t want to wake her up.” He said, annoyed that his teeth chattered the entire time.

“Do you have a doctor?” Nat asked from his other side, gently running a hand over his arm.

Tony sighed, and attempted to roll his eyes, but found that his vision blurred horribly after doing so. He groaned and fell back further into the couch, escaping Cap’s hold.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk to her.” He said quietly, his eyes flickering to where he could see Peter standing in front of the stove through the doorway.

“Well, can you tell us?” Steve pressed gently, resting his hand on Tony’s shoulder. “What happened out there? I’ve never seen you react like that before.”

He closed his eyes for a second, taking a few deep breaths before he shared.

“I might not have been totally honest about how bad it is.” He admitted, keeping his eyes closed, not wanting to see their faces.

He felt Nat grab his hand a squeeze slightly.

“So, you’re saying you had an anxiety attack just as he grabbed you?” She asked, rubbing her thumb over his hand in a soothing manner.

“A little before. Um, I tried to suit up and realised I didn’t have it with me.” He explained, cracking his eyes open a little. “I guess it really freaked me out.”

He felt Steve pat his knee, and sent the man a small, grateful smile.

“I’m sorry guys.” He said, looking between them, hating that he had ruined everything. “I know this isn’t the plan we had in mind for Christmas.”

“Tony, stop!” Steve exclaimed, his hand squeezing his shoulder in a comforting manner, “You have nothing to apologise for.”

Nat nodded in agreement, pushing some stray hairs from his brow as she did. 

“Look, Tony. Stay here tonight. Nat is already settled into the guest room, but why don’t you stay here on the couch. And that way, if you have another attack, you can just call out for either one of us.” Steve urged him.

Tony studied him for a second. What he really wanted was to be alone in his hotel room, buried under a thousand blankets and completely cut off from the world for a few weeks. But he knew Pepper would be disappointed. And so, he sighed once more.

“Okay.” He said.

They both offered him gentle smiles as they stood, ready to head to their respective rooms and to give him a little privacy now that he had finally stopped shaking.

He sat alone in the living room for a few minutes, the sound of two people preparing for bed on one side, and the sound of tea being prepared on the other. It was too much for him. He closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to discreetly cover his ears for a few minutes, relief washing over him as the dark silence covered him.

He jumped when a small hand touched his knee.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter looked concerned, his brow creased. “I, uh, made you some tea. I know it helps you calm yourself.”

He looked up at the boy in front of him, not quite believing he was truly right there in Steve’s living room. A large part of him believing he had begun to experience hallucinations.

Peter looked between him and the steaming cup, uncertainty seeming to creep onto his face as he held the small cup out. He attempted to lift an arm, but the shaking returned, followed by a deep weariness and physical weakness. Not seeing this, Peter look downcast, biting his lip a little and turning away.

“It’s okay if you don’t want it.” He muttered quietly, about to walk back into the kitchen.

“No, Pete.” He called, his voice a little croaky. “Wait.”

Peter froze slightly, staring down at him through those ridiculous glasses. He looked down, and sighed.

“My arms feel a little weak.” He admitted, feeling his cheeks warm at the admission. “Can you help me out?” He gritted out, hating this feeling.

Peter stared at him for a second, but then, seeming to suddenly understand what it was that he required, sat down next to him in Nat’s vacated position, and turned so that he could help Tony raise the cup to his lips. He felt a warm rush of comfort come over him as soon as the tea hit his tongue, and he raised a hand to take the cup from Peter, intending to simply hold it in his lap now that he’d had a sip.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, looking down at the cup of green tea, not ready to look at the boy after such a humiliating display of weakness.

“Um. It’s okay.” Peter replied, equally as quiet, his eyes also remaining lowered.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them, one that Tony felt far too tired to even think of breaking. He leaned back against the couch once again, closing his eyes and releasing a breath.

“What happened?” Peter suddenly asked, his voice still far too quiet and uncertain.

Tony turned his head, cracking open an eye to take in Peter.

“Anxiety attack.” He mumbled

“When did they start getting this bad?” Peter pressed, his eyes wide and worried as he fiddled with the edge of his black hoodie.

Tony studied him for a second, smiling despite himself as he took in Peter’s appearance, desperately wanting to avoid the topic completely.

“Glasses and bleached hair?” He asked incredulously. “Really?”

Peter frowned, touching the edge of his glasses.

“What? It’s my disguise!” He exclaimed.

Tony snorted.

“Cap recognised you instantly.” He reminded him, turning his head to face the ceiling once again, closing his eyes as he felt his arm recover little more.

“He’s trained to recognise spies.” Peter grumbled, slouching against the armrest, finally looking a little less stiff next to him. 

“Mmhmm,” Tony hummed, toying with the cup, wanting another sip, but not wanting to sit up. “Bleached hair draws more attention to you, especially with all the regrowth.”

“It’s a look!” Peter insisted. “I was aiming for something different to what I would normally wear.”

Tony chuckled a little, turning his head once again and opening both eyes fully to look at Peter.

“Sure it is, buddy.” He said condescendingly. “Maybe we’ll go over disguises in our next mentoring session.”

He watched Peter with wide, hopeful eyes, praying that Peter would understand what he was offering. He held his breath and chewed the inside of his cheek as Peter stared at him for a second, not quite registering what he said. 

“Wh- mentoring?” Peter repeated, his voice only just above a whisper, seemingly unable to look away from Tony. “You want…”

“I want you to come home, Pete.” Tony clarified, his own voice significantly lower than earlier.

Peter stared at him, not believing a single word he said. And so, with a grunt, Tony pushed himself up, sitting up properly and slowly taking another sip of tea out of his still slightly shaky hand. He looked down at it, preparing himself for Peter’s rejection.

“We all miss you, kid.” He finally said when it seemed Peter would never respond. “All of us, even Happy.”

He turned to face Peter again, a forced smirk upon his face as he took in Peter’s unreadable expression.

“You know your Aunt and Happy are a thing now?” He said, hoping for a reaction.

It did exactly what he had hoped for. Peter’s stunned face changed slightly as he screwed it up.

“Happ-. Wait. What?” He stuttered.

“Yeah, uh huh.” Tony agreed, nodding slightly. “Totally took me by surprise that one. And I’m usually pretty good at guessing that kind of stuff.”

Peter narrowed his eyes and creased his brow.

“If you’re so good at it you would have noticed that Nat’s keen for Cap.” Peter quipped, a small challenge.

“Oh, I did notice. She threatened to murder me if I told him so I suggest you remember his enhanced hearing.” He said softly, titling his head in the general direction of Steve’s bedroom.

“Pssh. He’s an old man. I have enhanced hearing too you know; I can hear that he’s been asleep basically ever since his head hit the pillow.” Peter threw out, waving his hand casually. “What did Pepper say when you told her?”

Tony felt a genuine smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

“I wouldn’t betray a friend like that!” He exclaimed softly, sipping his tea as Peter gave him a disbelieving stare.

“Oh, please! You two are the worst gossips I’ve ever come across!”

Tony chuckled as he saw Peter relax a little once again. The kid turned and sat properly in the chair, his arm brushing up against Tony’s blanket as they fell into a comfortable silence.

“Why’d you go?” Tony asked after a long pause, returning his gaze to study his tea.

Peter took in a deep breath; one that Tony could hear shake. He prepared himself to listen, knowing the worst thing he could do was speak over him. He felt the kid shrug slightly by his side and watched as he fiddled with his fingers.

“I was scared.” He finally said, voice so quiet it was hard to hear. “I thought I’d ruined everything, and so I thought that everyone would be better off without me.”

He paused so long Tony thought he had finished. But right as he opened his mouth, Peter continued.

“Steve, uh, spoke to me yesterday, and I realised I never actually forgave you for walking away all those years ago. But, more than that, I never actually apologised for walking away from you.” He turned slightly, facing towards Tony, his eyes slightly watery. “I know I hurt you when I told you it wasn’t going to work. And now I know that you were probably right to try and stop me from doing half the stuff I did.”

He sniffed, and wiped at his cheek with the sleeve of his jumper as Tony turned to face him properly.

“I’m sorry that it took Steve sitting me down and telling me I was wrong to realise I was wrong. I should have trusted you. I shouldn’t have been so annoyed at how much you tried to protect me.” He continued, playing with his sleeves. “You know, all I’ve been able to think about since Steve spoke to me, is all the times you had my back. Like when you sent May and I to the farm so that tech guy wouldn’t get us. And, the other thing, I realised how much you forgive me when I mess up, which is every time we do anything together. So, I’ll understand if you’ve reached your limit. If this is the thing you can’t forgive, I’ll understand.”

Tony studied him for a long moment, before setting his tea down on the arm rest behind him.

“Peter. I never explained why I walked away.” He began. “I was worried that you would end up getting yourself killed, and so, I thought that if we had some space, you would realise I was only trying to protect you. Unfortunately, what came out was my anger and then me just abandoning you in the hanger.”

Peter looked down at his hands, the memory obviously a painful one for him.

“I’m sorry, Peter. I was so worried about becoming my own dad that I ended up doing something much worse. I’m so sorry.” He said, his own voice shaking a little. “Do you think there is any chance you could forgive me?”

Peter looked down at his hands a little longer, but he bit his lip, and gave a small nod.

“I forgive you.” He mumbled.

Tony felt a weight lift off of him and dropped his shoulders in relief.

“Will you?” Peter asked, darting his eyes up, and pressing on when he saw Tony’s confused face. “You know, forgive me?”

Tony grinned and lunged forward, pulling the stunned boy into a tight embrace.

‘Already done.” He said, grinning into the air around him.

This truly was a Christmas to remember.


	11. Disagreement

The masked man landed on the pad in the centre of the communications room, anger emanating off of him. He felt foolish, but, he did not regret his self-imposed mission, regardless of how successful or un-successful it may have been. At least he had been proactive! He looked around the room, frowning as he saw the Marks avoiding eye contact, their heads bowed lower than usual, some even hiding behind their works stations and casting furtive glances in his direction. Something was awry. 

“You idiot!” A voice boomed from behind him, causing the hairs on his arms to stand up and cold shiver to run up his spine.

He spun quickly, heart pounding heavily in his chest at the sound of The Master’s voice. He watched as the man stalked up the cat-walk and onto the landing pad, only a few feet away from him, his glare almost physically over-powering him.

“You attacked Tony Stark?” The Master hissed, his head tilting a little. “What on earth possessed you to do such a foolish thing! We still require him for our mission to be successful.”

The masked man narrowed his eyes, taking in The Masters heaving chest. He felt, despite his great fear of the master, and odd amount of pride in his initiative. And so, it was with a swirl of puffed up immodesty that he stuck out his chest and responded.

“At least I did something.” He snapped back, ignoring the droplets of sweat that had begun to gather on the back of his neck.

“Yeah, you destroyed years of planning because you were impatient!” The Master yelled, causing some of the Marks close to him to flinch. “You’re lucky he didn’t trace you back here!”

He rolled his eyes, disregarding the threat The Master currently faced to him. He knew he was right in his actions; surely The Master would see this soon enough.

“Every earth that we invade, you waste time with convoluted plans when we can just grab our target’s and be done! We need this one for the expansion, why not grab him, huh?”

The Master stalked closer, invading his personal space and pushed him back a little at his shoulders, causing him to lose his balance for a moment, and stumble backwards just a few steps.

“Because this earth has the avengers, you idiot. They’re more than capable of ending our plans, which is why we needed Stark to be present when the Vice President takes the Spider-Man into custody, make the other’s think he betrayed them!” He whispered, his voice boiling with rage. “All you’ve done since we took you in, is complain and destroy plans. You’re easily the dumbest of us all. Why I allow you to remain is beyond me.”

He felt his chest heave a little, as a stabbing fear ran through him.

“Master, I”

The Master slapped him, hard, causing his words to turn into a loud cry.

“Your incompetence has put us all at risk. I will have none of this. As your punishment, you will be sent back to your own earth, where I shall remove my support and the Marks, and you shall be at the mercy of your people.” The Master hissed in his ear, doing nothing to stop spit coming with his words.

He widened his eyes. His earth was unstable at best, he would not survive the week!

“No! Master, please! My people have not yet learned to respect me. They’ll kill me!” He pleaded, going so far as to grab The Master’s arm.

The Master shook him off, and pushed him to the ground as a lingering blue portal opened behind him.

“Be gone, you fool.” He hissed, then walked off of the platform.

And with that, two Mark’s appeared on each side of him, picking him up, and tossing him through the portal to his own earth, his doom.

 

Peter awoke slowly, cracking his eyes open as sunlight streamed through the cracks in Steve’s living room blinds. His neck ached a little, bent at an awkward angle, and his back felt odd, as he had slept slouched sideways against Tony, who was currently slumped back in the couch, his mouth open and drooling slightly as he slept through Peter’s shuffling. He smiled to himself a little as he felt Tony’s hand twitch slightly on his shoulder, he couldn’t believe how lucky he had been to have such a wonderful mentor in his life, someone who would forgive even his greatest failures and support him as he attempted to get back up on his feet. With a content sigh, he leaned back further and found a more comfortable position by curling up on his side and tucking his feet under Tony’s blanket. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard shuffling in Steve’s room. The door opened and a far too awake Steve stepped out into the hall and made his way into the bathroom, sending Peter a friendly smile and his eyes lingering on Tony for just a second as he did. Peter gave an odd look to the wall that Steve had just passed, but quickly shrugged off his thoughts as he heard the shower start, he snuggled back into his own blanket and dozed until he felt Tony stir next to him. He smiled drowsily to himself, until he heard the sound of a phone camera.

He snapped his eyes open, finding Nat standing in front of them, Starkphone out and pointed right at them, a cheeky smirk planted on her lips.

“Looking good, kid.” She chuckled.

Peter groaned and pulled the blanket over his head, but not before slipping a hand out and flipping her off. To his dismay, he heard the camera once again.

“Gonna send that one to Pepper to show your Aunt.” She said to herself, clearly satisfied with her efforts.

Peter ripped the blanket off of his head, heart pounding. He desperately wanted to reunite with May, but she would certainly kill him for such poor behaviour!

“What! No! You can’t send that one to May!” He hissed, trying to give her his harshest glare.

She merely laughed, leaving Peter to watch her type away at her phone. He attempted to jump off of the couch, only to face plant loudly into the floor, jarring Tony completely awake with a loud grunt.

He quickly got to his feet, spinning around and quickly giving him an apologetic look before facing Nat.

“Don’t send it! She’ll be so mad!” He whined, stepping into Nat’s personal space and tugging her arm slightly.

Nat gave him an unimpressed look, almost rolling her eyes as she continued texting.

“I don’t think this is what she’ll be mad about.”

Peter stepped back quite suddenly, her words ice cold and causing him to take a shaky breath.

“Oh.” He sighed, biting his lip and looking down at the floor.

Nat studied him for a second, before her own eyes went wide. She stepped forward, shoving her phone into her pocket and grabbing his arms in an attempt to right her wrong.

“No, Peter!” She hurried. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Peter waved her off with his free hand, shaking his head slightly as he did.

“No, no. It’s fine.” He whispered. “I understand.”

He heard Tony shuffle on the couch as he felt something tap his ankle. He frowned, looking down to see that Tony had dropped his blanket and scooted closer to the edge of the couch. The man rested a gentle on Peter’s elbow, looking up at him with soft eye’s.

“Kid, it’s okay.” Tony assured him, smiling gently before redirecting his gaze to Nat, his eye’s hardening a little. “Ms. Romanov here just has a bad habit of mis-placed humour.”

He risked a glance back at Nat, watching as her cheeks seemed to go a little pink. She watched him with wide eyes for a second.

“I’m sorry, Peter. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just meant your aunt would be happy to see this picture, that’s all.” She assured him gently, squeezing his arm softly as she did.

Peter watched her for a moment, biting his lip gently, but, after a brief hesitation, nodded, accepting her apology.

She seemed to sigh in relief, and pulled him into a friendly hug.

“I’m sorry Pete.” She said again. “I should have thought.”

He patted her back awkwardly, looking over her shoulder as Steve entered the room, dressed for the day, but hair still a little damp from his shower. The man gave him a questioning look, his brow raised, taking in the sight before him. He merely shrugged, sending Steve a small smile as he stepped back from Nat.

“So” Tony began, breaking the small silence that had fallen over the apartment and looking up at Steve with tired eyes. “You got coffee here somewhere?”

Peter watched as Steve chuckled, his eye’s crinkling a little as he did.

“Of course I do.” He said after a moment, walking across the living room to his kitchen. “You don’t have Tony Stark over without properly preparing yourself beforehand.”

Tony stifled his own chuckle before looking back up at Peter, his eyes wide. Peter raised a brow.

“What?”

Tony held out his hands as Peter just gave him a confused look.

“You owe me eighteen months’ worth of hugs and updates.” He explained, waggling his fingers a little.

Peter gaped dramatically as Nat chuckled beside him.

“Eighteen? Wha- I was gone for six months!”

“Nu-uh! Eighteen!” Tony quipped, lowering his arms and patting Peter’s vacated seat.

“Why hugs! We never hug!” Peter tried again, sounding playfully exasperated. “Besides, don’t you have Morgan for that now!”

Tony rolled his eyes.

“Pete, we always hug. You hug me like every time you see me! Besides, Morgan doesn’t hug so much as cling to me for dear life and drool all over my shoulder.”

Peter laughed just a little, giving up as he fell back into his seat and allowed Tony to wrap an arm around his shoulder. He leaned his head against his shoulder, glaring at Nat as she tried to take another picture. 

“Well, we should probably get straight to the point this morning.” She announced as Steve re-entered the room, Tony’s coffee in hand.

“And what point is that?” Tony asked, pulling Peter a little closer as he did.

“That whoever attacked you knew exactly where you were.” Nat explained, her eyebrows raised.

“That’s a good point, Nat.” Steve agreed, settling down besides Tony on the couch and passing the man his coffee.

Tony shot him a small smile before taking his first sip of coffee, grinning widely to himself as he did.

“Should Pepper be worried about your relationship with coffee?” Peter joked quietly, nudging Tony gently as he did.

Tony rolled his eyes fondly, taking another sip of coffee as he did.

“I think she’s more worried me and Rhodey than me and coffee.”

Peter and Nat chuckled themselves, missing Steve’s small grimace before he too joined them.

“Okay, boys, focus up.” Nat called them back after a moment, clapping her hands softly. “Peter. How did you find Tony last night?”

Peter shrugged slightly. He’d been sitting in his apartment, sulking, although, he would never admit that, when he his enhanced hearing had picked up Tony’s weak cries for help.

“I guess I just got a sense.” He said quietly after a moment, easily lying to her. “I didn’t know who it was.”

Nat studied him for a long second, eye’s flickering over his face.

“Okay.” She conceded after that long moment. “Tony, did you let anyone know where you were going? Post anything?”

Tony shook his head.

“Haven’t been on social media in years, Nat. And, as far as I’m aware, I wasn’t followed.”

Steve turned in his seat slightly.

“Phone tracer?”

Tony frowned, shaking his head once again.

“The phone I have right now is a prototype for the latest Starkphone. My copy is completely untraceable, I made certain of it.”

“So how could someone know where you were?” Peter asked, worry filling his tone as his eye’s widened.

“Well, Peter. How did the man escape?” Nat prompted him.

“Uh, I, I think he teleported?” He tried, casting a worried look over at Steve. “Like the Mark in the alleyway.”

“And that Mark knew exactly where to find us, and when.” Steve added, frowning to himself.

“So, you think that the guy who attacked Mr. Stark is working for the same guy who’s been doing these muggings?” Peter asked, frantically looking over at Nat.

She seemed to take a long moment to think things over, before nodding.

“It’s a reasonable conclusion to make.”

Silence fell over them for a long moment, broken only by Tony placing his now empty coffee cup on the floor.

“Well, however they found my location, we probably shouldn’t stay here.”

Steve nodded in agreement, Nat quirked an eyebrow.

“You think we should leave D.C? Didn’t the Vice President want to speak with you and Peter?” She asked, cautiously.

Tony shrugged lightly, not wanting to convey any true emotion to the situation, especially when Peter was sitting right beside him.

“It doesn’t really matter; I get the feeling she’s up to no good. But yes, Peter and I will have to meet with her at some point in the New Year if we want her support for the citizenship deal.” He gave Peter a side-long look. “If that’s okay with you?”

Peter nodded quickly, not wanting be in the way of anything, knowing he had caused enough headaches as is.

“Okay, well. We’ll go upstate to the avengers facility, deal with this, and then Pete and I will duck back down after the New Year and deal with the sea witch.” 

Steve moved forward in his seat, leaning around so he could see his entire team.

“Well, let’s get moving.” He announced, only hesitating when he saw Tony raise his hand, just a little, a hesitant expression on his face. “Tony, did you just raise your hand?”

“Shut up.” Tony snapped gently. “Look, I know it’s probably not the best time to bring it up, but the rest of the team agreed that I could start looking further into the multi-verse theory. Maybe I should call Rocket, see if he and Quill have gotten there yet-“

“Woah, woah. What?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised and a hand held up. He looked between Nat and Tony in a way that made Peter think he should attempt to slip out of the room and provide them with some privacy.

Nat sighed, giving Tony a small, disappointed look.

“While you were out, we heard from Quill and Rocket that other Marks were appearing across the galaxy. We decided to move forward as a pre-caution. But someone.” She said, eyes landing hard on Tony. “Was supposed to tell you before Christmas.”

Tony looked a little besmirched, ducking his head slightly.

“Sorry, Steve.” He said quietly. “But the risk is far too great, we need to be prepared.”

Steve shot Peter a look, one filled with pure irritation, before lowering his gaze back to Tony.

“I can’t believe you.” He almost hissed. “You waited until I wasn’t there to get them to do what you wanted?”

Tony’s head snapped up, his eye’s wide and expression a little lost as he looked at Steve.

“What! No! Of course, not. I just couldn’t risk waiting any longer. Steve, these things are out there, they’re here on earth!” He implored. “I’m just trying to protect us!”

Steve sighed over his speech, and stood up from the couch stalking across the room, only stopping in front of his window.

“Steve, the fate of our universe is at stake. We need something to defend ourselves with.” Tony tried again, removing his arm from Peter’s shoulder and leaning forward, watching Steve with observant eye’s.

Steve turned from the window, his arms crossed as he looked back at Tony.

“Last time you used technology to defend earth, we had to destroy it. If I remember correctly, quite a few people died.” 

Tony swallowed, but refused to lower his eyes, even when he felt his jaw stiffen.

“And if I remember correctly, we could have used that same technology years later when you-know-who showed up.” He hissed back.

“Ultron couldn’t have stopped him, nothing could have! Only the stones did. You should know that, Tony!” Steve snapped, his voice a little louder than necessary.

Tony stood suddenly, allowing the blanket to fall to the couch where Peter still sat.

“No, the reason we nearly lost to him is because you decided to fuck off with your murder pall and leave me to face the New York invasion alone.” 

“How are we back at this again? I thought we agreed to leave it in the past!”

Tony’s eye’s narrowed dangerously as he stepped forward.

“Oh, forgive me for being upset that my parents were murdered!” he yelled, causing both Nat and Peter to flinch. “You left me there all alone so you could go and be with your-your friend!” he spat.

Steve stepped forward, nearing Tony in the centre of the room.

“You wanna bring up the past, Stark? Because I can think of a tonne of things you’ve done that are just as bad!”

“Well, at least I try to fix my past!”

“You can’t change the past, Tony!” Steve yelled.

Peter watched them, his heart pounding heavily, but he was not afraid, only worried. Even from here he could hear Tony’s elevated pulse, and see the way he was twitching nervously.

“Oh, I am well aware of that, Captain. But I’ve done the best I can, so if you could just get off of my back for one damn-“

“I get off your back and you convince them to let you build a machine that would allow people, enemies, to invade earth! Why don’t you just roll out the red carpet for Thanos this time!”

“Okay, enough!” Nat snapped. Peter watched as her eyes darted to him nervously. Funny, he’d never heard of Thanos before. “That’s enough.” She said quietly, inkling her head towards him. 

Tony stumbled back, as though startled by her presence. He looked over his shoulder at Peter, seeing the bow cowering a little into the couch, his eyes wide. Steve followed his gaze, and he felt a shot of guilt fly through him, seeing Peter watching them, even if he was no longer a child, he was still far too innocent to watch the two of the people he most admired in the world scream at each other. 

Peter watched as Tony pushed his shoulder back and took a deep breath, turning to Steve once more and extending a hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Truce?” 

Steve seemed to study him for a long moment, a muscle in his neck twitching a little. But, being at the receiving end of Nat’s on going glare, he seemed to reluctantly lift his hand to meet Tony’s.

“Yeah, truce.” He sighed, his face a little red from his fight.

They stood in a tense silence for a long moment, each avoiding each other’s eye contact while Steve and Tony calmed down.

“Okay.” Steve said, finally breaking the atmosphere. “Tony, call Rocket. We’ll meet them upstate and you can start working on the multi-verse portal.”

Tony nodded, not looking Steve in the eye, and returned to the couch where Peter sat, digging through the blanket to retrieve his phone. Peter watched him, concerned as his mentor did not meet even his eyes.

“Mr. Stark?” He tried, only receiving a small huff and a half-hearted smile in return as the man crouched in front of the couch, texting quickly. 

“Tony?” He tried again, leaning in closer and ignoring the way Steve seemed to roll his eyes and walk out of the room at something Nat quietly said to him.

Tony’s eyes dated up to his, a little wide.

“Tony?” He asked, a little confusion on his face. “Not sure how I feel about you calling me that.” He quipped, a true smile re-appearing, one he seemed to only reserve for his family.

Peter chuckled a little, lying on his side as Tony finished his text and quickly sent it.

“So, are we going home?” He asked, fidgeting with the blanket a little.

Tony’s eyes flickered over his face for a moment, before he nodded.

“You okay with that? We’ll have to go to the compound first though.”

Peter returned his nod, biting back a small smile.

“Yeah.” He admitted. “I want to go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've read the other stories, you'll know that most of the general populous of this universe do not remember Thanos. This was covered briefly in the first story, and will be covered in greater detail in the next and final instalment of this series.


	12. The Arrival

Flying was not something Peter overly enjoyed. Despite knowing that Tony’s self-piloted jet was possibly the safest plane on earth, it did relatively little to calm the nerves buzzing under his skin. He’d seen videos of his parent’s plane going down during the Battle of New York, and now, all he could connect planes to was the horrible memory of wondering when his father would return. Of course, the way Tony and Steve tried incredibly hard to put forth a polite front to each other did nothing to ease the situation. They spoke coolly to each other, and only when necessary, always avoiding eye contact. And so, as soon as they stepped foot on the plane, he and Tony had sat in the cock pit, and Nat had steered Steve away toward the back of the plane, allowing the two of them some privacy.

They had begun their take off when Tony seemed to notice his nervousness. To be fair, he was trying his best, but watching the runway disappear beneath him caused him to grip the arm rest so hard it cracked loudly. And so, Tony had the windows blacked out and began explaining to him the various buttons across the dash, only unblocking the windows once they were high up in the air.   
“So,” Tony said, finishing his explanation of how the plane was completely self-functioning. “You excited to go home?”

Peter looked over at him, giving him a small smile, knowing he was doing his best to distract him from his fear.

“Yeah. A little scared. I mean, well, I guess we’re going upstate first, and then home.”

Tony nodded understandingly.

“Yeah. I hope it’s okay, I called May and asked her and Pepper to meet us there.”

“Yes, of course that’s okay!” He answered quickly.

He felt an odd mix of emotions. He was eager to see his aunt and hold her tight. But he knew he owed her deeply for how he had surely hurt her over the last few months.

“Wanna talk about it?” Tony asked, his brow creasing ever so slightly.

“Uh, no.” He admitted sheepishly. 

“Okay. Well, there is one thing I actually do need to talk to you about.” 

“Oh?”

Tony cleared his throat and absentmindedly glanced back through the open doorway and into the cabin. He could see Steve glaring out the window and Nat kindly ignoring him, reading her book contentedly. He turned back to Peter.

“I do actually need you to come with me to meet with the Vice President in the New Year.”

Peter nodded.

“Yeah. I already told you, I’m fine with it.” He insisted.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Pete. There’s something really off about this lady, and I have a bad feeling about it.”

“Okay, well, let’s just not meet with her then.” Peter tried, tucking his feet under himself in the chair.

Tony sighed and ran a hand over his face as he slouched back into his own chair.

“I wish, Pete. I wish.” He sighed. “Unfortunately that is not how politics works. It’s an incredibly broken system. If I do this for her, prove that I am responsible for the enhanced individuals we currently have, well, she’ll be far more inclined to allow Quill and Rocket to stay with us.”

Peter frowned.

“Just me?” He asked.

Tony shrugged.

“You’re the one she questioned me on. But I would assume the same would apply to Bruce and Cap.”

“That’s a little unfair, don’t you think?”

Tony gave him a soft, but exasperated look.

“It is, Peter. But, those are the card’s we’ve been dealt.”

Peter studied him for a long moment, trying not to stare at the grey hairs that had suddenly taken over Tony’s head. 

“I’ll still do it.” He agreed, desperately wanting to do something right.

Tony’s shoulders relaxed a little, and he sent Peter a grateful smile.

“Hey, what’s with Cap?” Peter asked quite suddenly, glancing back through the cabin to find that Steve, just as Tony had seen him, was resolutely glaring out the window.

Tony frowned, swivelling the chair around so he too could look into the cabin. He let out a frustrated groan.

“Jarvis, shut the cabin door.” He asked, his heart hitching slightly with guilt as Steve’s eye’s flickered over to them as the sound proof doors closed.

“I honestly have no idea, Pete. He’s been on edge and snappy since this whole citizenship thing started.”

“Oh? When he spoke to me, he sounded like you were getting along. But then this morning he just went nuts!” Peter exclaimed quietly, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

Tony leaned forward in his chair as Peter swivelled to face him, sitting cross legged in his own.

“I don’t know what to do, Pete.” He admitted. “I’ve honestly tried everything. I tried giving him space, I’ve helped him get a home and pay for food. I tried being there for him. But every time it ends with a screaming match.” He sighed heavily, looking as though he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Pep thinks we should just let him be, but, he’s my friend. And he’s saved my life more times than I could count.”

Peter watched his mentor with careful eyes. He’d witnessed Tony and Steve’s fight first hand, and, from context, he could see that the blame could equally be shared. However, Steve had over-reacted, and now sat sulking to himself like a teen ager.

“Maybe it’s something personal?” He suggested, and quickly continued when he saw worry flash across Tony’s face. “Not with you! But, you know, just in general? Maybe he’s got some personal stuff going on that he doesn’t want to share?”

Tony shrugged dejectedly.

“Who knows kid.” He sighed, looking down at his hands. “You know, Pete. When I first met Cap, I kept getting the impression he was measuring me up against Howard. And somehow, I get the impression that I did not weigh up to that standard.”

Peter sighed.

“You know, at shitty as that sounds that might actually be it. I mean, he was created with Howards equipment, so why not expect the son to be exactly like him? But, that wouldn’t explain why he’s been so pissy recently. I mean, surely he let that go a while back.”

“Yeah, you’d think so.” Tony agreed dejectedly, “But, he’s not an idiot, and I’m sure he would have spoken to Nat about it if that was the case. No, there’s something else bothering him.”

“You really think he’d talk to Nat?”

He watched as Tony shrugged and attempted to appear nonchalant, letting his head fall to the side to lean on a hand.

“They’re pretty good friends, Pete. I don’t think he’d let her little crush get in the way of a friendship.”

“You think they’ll get together?”

Tony shrugged again, before spinning to look out the window.

“Who knows. Nat’s easier to read than she thinks she is, Steve’s the real mystery in that equation.”

Peter studied him for a long moment, before a small smile tugged at his mouth.

“I missed this.” He admitted quietly, watching as Tony turned his head to look at him, a little surprised, before he smiled warmly.

“What, us gossiping like old ladies about our friends?”

Peter laughed and slouched back into his chair, feeling relaxed once again.

“Yeah, a little.”

Tony ginned at him, his eye’s crinkling as he did.

“Yeah. I missed you too, Pete.”

 

 

There were few things in the universe that gave Rocket the same thrill as flying through space faster light, it was a rush that was simple he often found himself a little embarrassed for becoming so giddy over something surely every being in the universe had experienced. He liked to contain his excitement for explosives and guns, not for modes of transport. Even so, as Quill parked the ship on the landing pad, he held back a small chuckle at the adrenalin pumping through his veins. He did nothing, however, to hide his pleasure upon sighting the avengers facility in front of him, grinning broadly at the concrete and glass building.

“You seem happy.” Quill quipped beside him, concentration leaking into his voice as his hands flew across the screens in front of him, shutting down the engines. “Happy to have your mad science buddy back?”

He just rolled his eyes and slid out of his seat.

“Give me someone to talk to.” He teased lightly, “You know, someone who can keep up.”

“Hey! I can keep up just fine!” Quill whined, pausing to send him a little glare before retrieving his duffle bag and walking towards the exit.

“Yeah, whatever you say.” He huffed to himself.

“Besides, you told me that you told him he was only a genius on earth.”

Rocket chuckled to himself, remembering his half-hearted insult at the man who was now one of his closest friends. 

“That’s right, I did. I’ll have to think of something better to say this time.”

He opened his own duffle bag slightly, checking to ensure the contents were still in place. He smiled to himself as he saw a glowing glass jar.

“What’s that?” Quill asked, suddenly appearing over his shoulder.

He startled and quickly shut the bag.

“Gift from Nebula for Stark.” He said tightly. 

He may count Tony as a close friend, but that was mainly because he had very few close friends. The truth was, he barely knew the man aside from the time they had spent together on his previous stay on earth. He had no idea if Tony would be happy to receive Nebula’s gift, or if he would want Quill seeing it.

“Oh.” Quill replied, a little dumbly. “Did she get anything for anyone else?”

He turned and gave Quill an odd, almost reproachful look.

“No?”

“Okay, cool.” He replied, and turned to walk down the exit towards the lawn before them.

Rocket frowned to himself as he followed.

“Did you want something from Nebula?” He asked, a little jokingly.

“No.” Quill replied a little too sharply. “Well, you know. Maybe. I mean, she got a gift for this weird guy and she barely knows him. I’ve known her for longer than that.”

Rocket rolled his eyes at Quill’s obvious jealousy.

“Well, when she respects you, she’ll probably get you something too.”

“Oh, so she doesn’t respect me?”

Rocket sighed and ran his paw over his face, a little exasperated. He really wished the rest of the team had joined them on this trip, but he and Quill had both agreed that bringing the other’s may actually be more of a risk than help. And so, despite them both wanting Nebula to join them, she had reluctantly agreed to stay back and keep an eye on the other’s. He groaned as Quill continued to complain behind him, all he wanted to do was get inside the compound and start assembling the parts Stark had requested he begin, and yet, it was incredibly hard to focus with a grown idiot whining about not getting enough attention. 

“Oh shut up!” He snapped, turning back to see Quill staring at him. “She likes him because he treated her nicely and didn’t judge her for being the daughter of Thanos! He nearly died in deep space with her, so of course she’s going to show some form of emotion towards him.”

Quill raised an eyebrow as Rocket sighed. The raised eyebrow was a sure sign the man was about to say something stupid.

“So, she’s in love with him?”

Rocket just started at him. If he were honest with himself, Quill was an intelligent man. He was a quick thinker, brave and loyal to a fault. But some days, he could just be plain stupid.

“No, you idiot. He’s like a father to her.”

“Oh. Well, that’s nice. I don’t have a father.” He mumbled to himself as he picked up his step once again and brushed past Rocket on his way to the front entrance of the building.

Rocket looked after him.

“Are you jealous?” He exclaimed, walking quickly to keep up with Quills large, human steps. “Are you jealous of Nebula?”

 

“What? Pss. No.” Quill said far too quickly as they finished walking across the lawn and arrived at the small under cover area.

“You want Stark to be you Dad?” He pressed, a small laugh hiding in his tone, looking up at his friends back as Quill opened the door and let himself in.

“What, no!” He exclaimed, holding the door for Rocket. “I’m just surprised. When I met Stark he didn’t really seem like the type of guy to take someone under his wing.”

“Man, you’re real bad at reading people aren’t you?” He sighed, walking past Quills legs and making his way to the hanger where Stark had arranged some SHIELD agents to prepare supplies.

“What do you mean by that?”

Rocket rolled his eyes, but smiled as a few agents walked by. One of them stopped to inform him that the supplies were indeed ready and waiting for him.

“I mean, you saw him with the Spider-kid right? He loves that kid.”

Quill huffed behind him as they made their way inside the hanger.

“Yeah, cause it’s his own kid. Of course, he has to be nice to him.”

“Peter isn’t his kid.” Rocket said a little tersely, if he were honest, he was getting a little sick of this conversation, he desperately wished Quill would just say whatever was on his mind. He made no effort to even show further interest in the conversation, choosing instead to drop his bag carefully in the corner, and make his way over to the centre of the hanger that had been cleared out as a work station for him. 

“That’s not his kid? But he was so protective of him.” Quill continued, he seemed to see something on the other side of the room, because his face suddenly changed ot one of mild surprise. “Oh, hey. He’s right over there, let’s just ask him.”

Before Rocket could question him, he turned to see where Quill was looking. He caught the back of a shadowy figure walking down the hallway, before turning and walking out of their sight.

“Damn, he’s walking away.” Quill muttered, before calling out loudly. “Hey! Stark!”

Rocket jumped up, quickly crawling up Quills side and shoved his paw in front of his mouth. It did nothing to stop the man from yelling out, but it did startle him enough that Rocket could speak quietly in his ear. He looked out at the now empty hallway that Quill had been about to walk down, his ears standing up and tail tensed.

“Quill, Stark is still in Washington.” He hissed, his heart pounding quiet quickly as he darted his eye’s over the now eerily quiet hanger.

He felt Quill tense beneath him.

“Oh, shit.” He muttered. “Shit, Rocket. Who was that?”

Rocket took a deep, shaky breath of his own and lowered his paw from Quill’s mouth.

“I-I don’t know.” He said, still crouched on Quills shoulder. “But, whoever, or, whatever it was. We should get moving.”

He jumped down from his friend’s shoulder, looking around the hanger, suddenly very aware that they were the only two present, though, he could hear the sounds of agents moving around in offices near-by. 

“Maybe stay ready.” He whispered, moving slowly towards the equipment. “Whoever is sending out those Marks may have found other versions of us.”

“Well.” Quill muttered. “We could use a Stark right now. So maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

His actions betrayed his bravado, as he slowly pulled out his quad blasters.

“There are a lot of possibilities out there, Quill.” Rocket breathed, his hairs standing on end. “I wouldn’t like to meet a darker version of myself.”

“Yeah.” Quill whispered, turning his back to Rocket as he kept an eye on the doors. “You get started, I’ll call through and let the others know. And I’ll keep an eye on the perimeter.”

Rocket nodded, nervously glancing around as he swallowed his fear, and buried himself in the work. If he was quick, he could have the machine half done by the time the others arrived.


	13. Intruder

To his surprise, the skies over upstate New York were bright and clear, something that drastically helped ease his nerves as he sat on the plane on the runway at the edge of the avengers facility, chewing his bottom lip and looking out the window. Tony had left him to run down the steps and greet Pepper with a kiss that made him cringe a little, and Nat had followed shortly afterward, giving both Pepper and his aunt a warm hug. He had moved out of the cock pit and sat in the cabin nervously as the others cleared out. His eyes were currently still frozen on his aunt. She looked older than he’d ever seen her, even from this distance, he could see the streaks of grey in her hair, and the deep lines around her eyes.

“Peter. Are you okay?”

He tore his eyes away from the window and found Steve standing in front of him, duffle bag in hand and concern etching his face.

“Oh, uh. Just a bit nervous.” He admitted, looking down at his hands quickly, before returning his gaze to Steve. “I’m scared.”

Steve gave him a kind smile and set his duffle bag down as he slipped into the seat opposite Peter.

“Yeah, me too.”

Peter gave him an odd look.

“What are you afraid of?”

Steve just smiled and looked down for a second, huffing out a small breath.

“You know, Peter. I get the feeling you’re delaying the inevitable by asking me about my own stuff.”

“Yeah, well. Mr. Stark say’s I’m a procrastinator.”

That seemed to break Steve’s smile just a bit, the man stared down at his hands for a long moment, before turning his gaze out of the window.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Peter asked.

“No. I don’t think that’s for the best.” He replied, eye’s still fixed on the group of people huddled on the tarmac.

Peter turned his own head to look out the window. Tony, Pepper, May and Nat stood together, chatting happily. He watched as Tony turned and saw him peering through the window. He waved, beckoning them to join.

“Kid! Cap! Get down here!” he called out, a wide grin on his face.

Peter sighed deeply, and pushed himself up from his seat.

“Well, guess we can’t put it off any longer.” He said, watching as Steve also pushed himself up. “We should probably go and be with them.”

He turned, walking towards the small doorway, and made his way down the stairs towards the runway. Somewhere behind him, he could sense Steve following, but he was far more focussed on May, who stood gripping Pepper’s arm, her eye’s wide as he made his way closer to them. In a rather unexpected way, Peter was suddenly hit by a strong urge to clamber back up the stairs and demand Friday fly him back to Washington. He was safe there, and these people were safe from him and his poor choices. He’d heard of this before, when people returned home they were suddenly overcome with a guilt of leaving that they irrationally wanted to leave once again rather than risk a bad reunion. He knew it was irrational, but he could feel the strong swirl of fear in his gut as he briefly caught May’s eye. He couldn’t look at her for even that second, shame building in his head. He almost turned and sprinted back across the tarmac, but Steve’s hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, firm and unmoving.

“Keep going, kid. You’ve got this.” He said quietly, loud enough that only Peter could hear him even though they were now only a few feet from the group.

They stopped before them, Tony, Nat and Pepper grinning at him, but he refused to meet May’s eyes. Instead, he lowered his head and carefully studied his feet. She had made no move towards him.

“Peter!” Pepper exclaimed after the group had simply stared at him. She rushed forward and pulled him into a warm embrace. “I’m so happy you’re home. I missed you so much!”

He tentatively lifted his arms and placed them on her back as she held him tight for another long moment.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled as she pulled back, studying his face with wet eyes.

“It’s okay.” She said softly, not letting go of him, but gripping his arms tightly.

He saw Tony approach them out of the corner of his eye. He put his hand on the small of her back and whispered in her ear. He knew he shouldn’t listen, but his could not stop his hearing.

“Pep, hunny. Let’s give him and May some space.” He whispered as one of his hands seemed to run over her shoulder in an intimate way that made Peter feel even worse about being able to hear their conversation.

He felt Steve tense behind him, as Tony wrapped an arm around Pepper’s waist and led her away. The man looked back over his shoulder.

“You too, Steve. Let’s get settled in to the compound.” He called back.

Steve grunted slightly, but squeezed Peter’s shoulder one last time before he followed Tony and Pepper. Quickly, he looked over at Nat, who offered a small, encouraging smile before turning and catching up with Steve, leaving him and May alone on the run way. He studiously kept his eye’s down on the concrete as silence enveloped them. He had no idea what to say now that he was here. Early on in his escape, he had thought to perhaps prepare a speech in the situation that he was able to return home once again. But, now that he was here in the moment, he could not remember a single word he had intended to say. And so, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Aunt May, I-“

“I missed you, Peter.” She sniffled, causing his head to whip up and finally look at her.

She had tears streaming down her cheeks, something that cause a lump to appear in his throat. He opened and closed his mouth uselessly as she lunged forward and through her arms around him. He hesitated for a long moment, but cautiously returned her hug, holding her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

“Peter! I missed you so much!” She cried as he bit back his own tears and held her a little closer.

“I missed you too.” He mumbled, before adding. “I’m sorry.”

She pulled back and looked him in the eye, ignoring the tears that were still falling down her cheeks.

“Don’t ever do that again.” She said a little too gently, as though she were afraid he would simply disappear. “Don’t you ever put us through that again.”

He bit his lip and nodded quickly as his own tears filled his eyes.

“Okay.” He quickly agreed.

She seemed to search his face for a long moment, before pulling him back into a tight embrace.

“I love you Peter.” She said quietly.

He nodded, and finally allowed himself to relax.

“Love you too, May.”

 

It was nearly an hour later that Pepper found the two Parker’s in deep conversation at a picnic table on the front lawn. They watched her approach, wary of the strained look on her face as she seemed to hesitate for a long moment before calling out.

“Pepper!’ May called to her, signalling her over, not wanting the other woman to feel as though she was intruding. “Come sit with us.”

Pepper arrived at the table and shook her head, her expression tight and business like as she addressed Peter.

“You need to go inside. Tony needs your help.”

Peter felt his back tense as May squeezed his hand. He turned and gave her a quick hug before saying his farewells, watching on as Pepper escorted May back to the car he assumed they had arrived in. He frowned a little as he watched Pepper drive them away, it was unlike Pepper to leave quickly and without explanation, he was more certain than ever that something horrible was coming their way. As the car rounded a bend in the driveway, he finally turned and briskly made his way across the lawn, entering the compound and hurriedly making his way toward the hangar. As he approached, he could hear Rocket calling out orders to the others. He entered the room and was immediately struck by the tension in the air. Quickly, he made his way to Tony’s side, crouching next to him as the older man welded what appeared to be a metal circle.

“Mr. Stark? Pepper said I needed to come in and give you a hand?”

Tony didn’t even glance in his direction, he kept his eye’s focused on the task at hand as he distractedly answered him.

“Yep. Go help Rocket.” He snapped dismissively as he adjusted some metal for a second. 

Peter wanted to be offended by the way Tony brushed him off, something that had never occurred in the past, even under the most stressful circumstances, but something in him made him stop and think. Tony was clearly stressed and distracted, obviously, he was not thinking clearly. However, before he could stand to find Rocket, Tony seemed to realise his error and put down his equipment for a second and looked over at Peter.

“Sorry.” He sighed as he ran a gloved hand over his face, seeming to forget about the safety goggles he wore. Peter tilted his head slightly, noticing he had a different ring on to the one he had before. “I just- Sorry. Rocket has most of the plans and we’ve sectioned off some stuff for you to work on if that’s okay.”

Peter looked at him, and, noticing how tense he seemed, reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?”

Tony sighed and looked back down at the work before him, shaking his head slightly.

“Quill saw a doppelganger in the compound, and then Cap yelled at me about it.”

Peter let out an exasperated sigh and looked around, his eyes landed on where Steve and Quill were moving around some metal poles under Rockets guidance. He couldn’t help but glare a little when Steve’s eye’s flickered over to meet his. At least the man had the decency to look a little ashamed as he quickly looked away.

“Don’t worry, kid.” Tony continued with a sad chuckle, “Pepper got stuck into him for me this time.”

Peter looked back at him, and gave a small sympathetic smile before looking down at the work Tony had before him.

“You know, if you want, I could stay here and work with you instead of going over to them?”

Tony frowned a little as he pulled another small piece of metal over and placed it on the circle.

“Pete, that’s great. But actually, if it’s okay, I would rather be alone for a bit.” He said with a small tremor in his voice. “I need to focus.”

Peters brow furrowed as he studied the man for a moment. Tony seemed to be putting a large amount of effort into not looking at him and swallowed nervously when he realised Peter was staring. Steve must have said something that hit a tender nerve, and it made him furious. And so, with a small reassurance to his mentor, he stood and walked across the room to where Rocket stood giving orders to Quill and Steve. It amused him a little to hear that Rocket was especially snappy when he gave instructions to Steve, a clear contrast the fond, yet exasperated tone he used with Quill. Quite pointedly, Peter ignored Steve and sat down on the platform that Rocket stood on, offering the small creature a tentative smile as he spotted Nat walking into the hangar with some wiring around her arm.

“Mr. Stark said you had some stuff for me to work on?” He asked when Rocket gave a final snappy command to Steve.

Rocket looked up at him, even as he sat, the creature was still significantly shorter than him, and was currently looking up at him with a great deal of caution in his eyes.

“Yeah, Stark said you were good with chemistry. He wants you to go over the stabilising formula that will run through the suits to ensure the jumps between universes won’t tear us apart.”

Peter nodded, and looked over his shoulder as Rocket walked a few steps behind him to pick up some papers. He expected Rocket to hand them to him straight away, but the creature seemed to hesitate and looked down at them for a moment.

“Everything okay? Is there a problem?” Peter asked, eyebrows raised. “I could go through it if there is, I have Mr. Stark’s access code for this lab so I could go down and check it over.”

Rocket’s eyes flickered over his face for a long moment.

“Stark say’s you’re smart enough to do this better than he can, but honestly, based on your actions over the last while, I don’t know.”

Peter swallowed the large amount of shame that threatened to overwhelm him, and instead, offered Rocket a cautious smile.

“Well, I like to think I’m smart dumb.”

“Your what now?” Rocket asked, turning to face him fully, eyebrows raised.

“Smart dumb. Like, I have a really high IQ, but I make really dumb choices or I just say stupid shit sometimes.”  
“IQ?”

“Yeah, it’s like an intelligence level thing. Like, Mr. Stark has one of the highest IQ’s on earth because he’s a genius.”

“And is it measured or?” Rocket trailed, an amused glint appearing in his eyes.

“Yeah. Mr. Stark has an IQ of 270, so he’s considered a super genius.”

“Okay, kid. What’s yours?”

“Um, I think mine was 145.”

“Oh, so average.” Rocket said with a chuckle, shuffling the paper’s in his hand.

“Well compared to Mr. Stark, yeah. But I guess it’s actually pretty high, I don’t know what the average is but I think it’s like 100 or something.”

“Oh, so you’re just slightly smarter than, say, a baby.” Rocket teased, smirk firmly in place.

Peter gave him on odd look.

“No, I don’t thin- wait. Would a baby have an IQ?”

Rocket openly laughed at him, holding out the papers for him to take.

“Let me know if you need help reading any of the big words.” He laughed.

Peter grumbled to himself, but took the papers out of his hand and put them on his lap, holding up the first page to read over Mr. Stark’s work.

“So what does IQ stand for? I mean, I assume it stands for something. It can’t just be two letters.” Rocket goaded him as he scanned through the work on the bottom of the page.

“Um,” He said, thinking for a long moment. “Uh, I actually don’t know.” 

Rocket raised an eyebrow.

“You sure you’re smart, kid?”

“Rocket! Stop harassing Pete!” Tony suddenly called out, not even looking up from where he was now fiddling with some circuitry. “Kid, get over here and talk me through everything I missed.”

Peter rolled his eyes, making sure Rocket could see it, and pulled the papers into his hands as he hopped off the platform.

“It was nice meeting you, by the way.” He mumbled as he started to walk across the room.

When he was only a few steps away from Tony, he gave the man a small smile.

“Thought you wanted to be alone?”

“Yeah, and I thought Rocket would skip being a smartass for a day, but we rarely get what we want do we?” He muttered, never taking his eyes off of the circuitry. 

Peter chuckled to himself, however, as soon as he was about to sit down, the hairs on his arm stood on end, his senses went off.

“Mr. Stark.” He hissed, eye’s narrowing.

Tony’s eye’s finally left the board and flashed up to Peter’s.

“Somethings coming.” He whispered.

Tony nodded and quickly turned off his equipment. 

“Guys!” He called out. “Suit up!” 

Peter watched as the other’s immediately put down their tools. Nat stepped away from her wiring and pulled out a gun. Quill reached back for his Quad blasters and Rocket pulled out a machine gun from some hidden compartment of the platform. Steve did nothing, but accepted a small gun tossed in his direction from Rocket, an action that made Peter grin a little to himself. He turned to Tony, only to find the man still in his jeans and t-shirt.

“What about you?” He asked, a little frantically.

“You first, kid.” He said.

He held out a small box, no larger than Peter’s palm, and waited while Peter slowly accepted it. He frowned as he opened the box, revealing a small button inside, decorated with a spider logo.

“What’s this?” He asked.

“Nano dot. Stick it behind your ear and then tap three times to suit up.” Tony explained quickly as he suited up.

Peter watched with some amazement as Tony simply adjusted his wedding ring and tapped the gold object a few times, before his suit spilled out and covered him entirely, all within a manner of seconds.

“Wha- You couldn’t have used that in DC?” Peter gaped.

“Pepper just gave it to me then, I was waiting for FRIDAY to finish rendering it while we flew back. Enough chit chat. Suit up. You’re the one who sensed danger!”

Peter gaped at him for a moment longer, questions flying around in his mind as he lifted the button and placed it behind his ear, wincing as he felt the small object clamp down onto his skin. With a final look at Ironman, he quickly stepped out of his shoes and tapped the object three times, and gasped as he found himself standing in his suit. He wished he had more time to look at it, however, his senses picked up once again.

He lifted his eyes just in time to see a flash of blue, and the sudden appearance of a Mark. Every weapon in the room turned on the intruder, who seemed to have come alone. The man seemed surprised to see them, and immediately tensed, pulling out a weapon of his own.

“Put it down!” Peter found himself calling out.

The Mark stared at him for a long moment, before his green gaze settled on Ironman.

Instinctively, Peter pushed his mentor back and stepped in front of him, covering the man as the Mark raised his weapon, aiming directly at him.

“Step away from Stark and this will all be over.” The man replied, his gaze steady.

“There are six highly trained people, and one of you.” He replied, ignoring the way his voice wanted to shake. “Although, if you’re into that I won’t judge.”

“Kid.” Tony whispered from behind him, and armoured hand coming to rest on his shoulder. “Love that you’re stepping into the leadership position and all, but, uh, what the hell are you doing?”

Peter kept his eyes firmly fixed on the man and he leaned back.

“Talking?”

“No, you’re taunting.”

“What! No, I’m not.”

“Don’t look at me, keep your eyes on the prize.” Tony whispered as Peter realised he’d turned. “You see that device on his wrist?”

Peter looked closely, it was a device similar to the ones he’d seen the others wearing.

“Yeah.”

“We need that, make sure he doesn’t try to teleport away.”

Peter assessed the man, he’d watched their interaction closely, but seemed to be in no hurry to move.

“Um, so, how?”

“Shoot him.”

“What, no!”

“It’s a robot, Pete. Just shoot it. Or, you know, get someone else to shoot it since you don’t have a gun.” Tony said, sounding a little exasperated. “Yo, Rocket. It’s a robot. Just shoot the bastard!”

Without hesitation, Rocket opened fire and shot the Mark squarely in the chest. Peter shrieked a little too loudly and rushed forward as the man collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.

“Mr. Stark! He’s in pain!” He cried as he ran forward.

Tony was not far behind him, the other avengers only a few steps behind him, their weapons still drawn and ready.

Peter arrived at the Marks side, and tensed, waiting for the injured man to attack. But, to his surprise, the man merely crouched forward.

“Kid, the wristband!” Tony cried.

Without further delay, Peter reached forward and grabbed the man’s wrist, wanking the small band free from his arm. Suddenly, the Mark made an odd beeping noise, and went completely limp, fully collapsing on the floor.

The others arrived, circling around the now useless Mark.

“What the hell.” Peter muttered to himself, looking down at the wristband.


	14. Interrogation

There had been no fight, and yet, Peter found himself breathing heavily as he watched Nat and Quill drag away the now useless Mark. Perhaps it was merely his confusion that caused his delayed calm, or perhaps it was the fact that he had thought for one brief moment that he was, once again, responsible for the death of another. Either way, he felt a warm hand grab his wrist and guide him away from the sight of the limp being. And so, it was with further confusion that he awoke in a large bedroom somewhere in the compound. He sat up quickly and kicked off the covers, looking around the now moonlit room. He could only assume that either he’d been carried there, or Tony had led him there at some point after the intruder’s demise. 

“Mr. Stark?” He called out.

He was met with silence, something that immediately made him feel on edge. Pushing himself out of the bed completely, he cautiously walked around the room, taking in the odd décor as he did. He very much doubted that Tony had a room set apart for him at the compound, although, he knew he had prepared one several years ago, but since then, several agents and other heroes had moved in and out of the building. And so, out of a desire to know exactly where he was, he walked silently over to a large desk on the opposite side of the room. He tilted his head slightly as he saw a few picture frames covering the wooden surface. With only a slight hesitation, he reached out to grab one and inspect it.

“Good evening, Peter.” FRIDAY suddenly announced, causing Peter to rip his hand away from the photo, his heart pounding heavily.

“Wha- oh, hey, Friday!” he gasped, his hand absentmindedly clutching his chest.

“I have alerted Mr. Stark that you are now awake. He requests you join him in his laboratory.”

“Oh, um. Yeah, sure.” Peter agreed, casting one final look at the desk.

Knowing he was under FRIDAYS watchful eye, he quickly smoothed out his top, noticing that his suit must have retreated by itself, and quickly made his way to Tony’s lab. He knew the way well, having spent time here with Tony when he was still in high school, and so he found himself slowly stopping in surprise a few meters away from the entrance as he heard the low murmur of voices a few hallways over. He furrowed his brow, but, allowed curiosity to get the best of him. And so, with no hesitation, he turned and quickly followed the voices down the hallways of the compound, finding himself stopping outside of an interrogation room. Soundlessly, he jumped up to the ceiling and snuck into the viewing room, trusting that the two-way glass would protect him from the watchful eyes within. He felt his own eyes widen as he took in the sight before him.

Within the cold confines of the interrogation room, sat Steve and Nat, both of them leaning forward onto the silver table and glaring at their victim. Their victim, was none other than the Mark that Peter had thought dead not too long ago. And yet, here he sat, wristband somehow re-attached to his arm, and seemingly unaffected by the gaping hole in his arm. Peter bit his lip as he listened to their conversation.

“You appeared alone and minimally armed at the Avenger compound. Why?” Steve asked, his arm muscles tensing as he did.

The Mark stared at him for along moment, it’s unnatural green eyes flashing for a moment.

“I was acting under the orders of my master.” He replied coolly.

“And who exactly is your master?” Nat pushed, her eyes darting over to Steve as she did. 

The Mark huffed, his face twisting into a fowl sneer.

“The Master is beyond you, simpleton.” 

“Oh, I don’t know.” Nat pushed, her voice oddly sweet. “You seemed to be in a lot of pain when we ripped off this here arm band. Should we try that again?”

Peter watched as the Mark’s face contorted into a surprised expression, and then one of fear passed over him.

“What are you?” Steve asked, his voice strong and commanding.

The Mark looked between them, before appearing to sigh.

“I will tell you what you wish to know, on one condition.”

Steve and Nat shared a look.

“And what condition would that be?” Nat inquired.

The Mark look oddly uncomfortable, and leaned forward as though to share a deep secret with them, his eye’s darting around wildly as he did.

“You cannot send me back to him.” He whispered, his eye’s pleading silently. “Please. He’ll kill me for getting captured. It’s much better that you end my suffering here and now.”

“So, you can feel?” Steve asked.

The Marks lip trembled a little.

“Yes, well, in a way. Yes. The Master programed us many years ago, how many, I do not know. It seems, a lifetime.” He looked down at the table. “Over time we evolved beyond what The Master could even fathom. And now, we are capable of free will.”

“And yet you choose to serve your master.” Steve deduced.

The Mark nodded, but then shook his head quickly.

“Not freely, no. The Master controls us, he knows all we do when we are in his presence. And here, he is unable to perceive my thoughts, we are too far away, and so, for the moment, I am safe.”

“Who is the master?” Nat pushed, her voice gentling significantly.

The Marks eyes widened. 

“The Master is to be feared! I have never seen his face, or the other’s, but he rules his world with an iron fist! He conquers, travels through the universes finding new earths to devour and rule!” He spoke quickly.

Nat reached out a hand.

“It’s okay. You’re clearly scared.” She soothed. “Just, tell us everything you can about The Master.”

“From the beginning.” Steve added.

The Mark looked between the two once more, but, seeing that the two heroes were no longer threats, settled back into his metal seat, and began his story.

“It all began on my home world, many, many universes away. The Master is from an earth titled earth-66. I was among the first of the Marks created by my Master, and so, I shall tell my story from my awakening on earth-66.” The Mark began. “The Master, back then he went by a different name, I don’t know what it was, he erased our memories after he rose to power, but I remember little pieces about that time. Earth was peaceful, green, lush. The people were happy and the nations, while they remained separate to each other, were peacefully united together as their governments unified for the good of the people. The Master was happy, he had a wife and several children, all of them loved with us in his house. Me and the others, well, we were just house robots, simply helping them around.”

“What happened?” Nat asked.

“We were invaded, earth was invaded. The Master’s wife and children vanished right before my own eyes, disappeared, became dust.”

“Thanos.” Steve breathed, becoming visibly stiff in the chair.

“Yes. Thanos.” The Mark confirmed. “He invaded, and The Master fought against him. They all did. They fought valiantly, and yet, they lost. They disappeared right before his eye’s all of them.”

“Oh, god.” Nat huffed.

“After that, The Master changed. He was angry, he blamed the governments for not doing more. And so, he took control. He was a wealthy man, influential, and so, he simply used his power to take over. We were sent out on missions for him, assassination missions to take out governments and destroy nations. And, when the time was right, he rose to power. The people feared him, they still do.”

“If he has power over his own earth, then why is he sending you here?” Steve asked coolly.

“He became power hungry, mad in his desire to control all of the earths. He desperately believes that he can protect each earth from the attack better than they are currently capable of. He finds that earths version of himself, and either destroys them, or turns them to his side, leaving them on their earth as supreme rulers. But, they each must declare their allegiance to him, and so, they are currently converging on this earth, soon. They may have already arrived.”

“And you know nothing of his identity?” Nat tried.

The Mark shook his head.

“I know only the mask. I am sorry.” The Mark tensed, as though a sudden thought had occurred to him. “The other Marks are still loyal to him, and he leaves some of us on each earth he conquers. He has an army on each earth, brainwashed loyalists who would happily die for him.”

Suddenly, he lunged forward, grabbing Steve’s arms.

“You must kill me, Captain. He’ll see what I’ve told you and he’ll end me slowly and painfully. I was his favourite and this betrayal will mean the end of my existence.”

Nat reached over, grabbing his arm gently.

“It’s okay. We won’t let him harm you.” She assured him. “Why is he looking for Stark? He sent someone to attack him, and the you ordered Spider-Man to step away from him today.”

The Mark looked a little hopeless for a moment, and shook his head, slowly lowering himself back into his seat.

“I know only what the Master allows, and yet, even then the truth he presents is distorted.” He looked up hesitantly between the two. “He told me only that Stark was a genius, capable of helping the expansion, and that we were to acquire him as an ally for the Master. It makes sense, the doorways have been malfunctioning, and, from my surveillance, Stark seems capable of fixing the problem. The Master was going to use the young one to manipulate Stark, but when one of our allies jumped ahead and attacked the man, he sent me to simply retrieve him since the plan had already been disrupted.”

Peter was lost in the conversation, so much so, he forgot about his surroundings. And so, when the door of his room suddenly swung open, it was with great effort that he did not cry out or simply drop to the ground.

“Peter!” Tony hissed, his disappointed, and yet, amused glare found him still attached to the ceiling. “What the hell? I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Sorry!” He whispered back, promptly dropping to the floor as silently as he could.

“Why are you in here? I specifically called you to the lab so that you wouldn’t have to hear this interrogation.”

“I was close to your lab, and then I heard the voices and I was just curious, so I followed them and it brought me here.” He hissed back, a small smile fighting its way onto his face.

“Kid, I swear you’ll be the death of me.” Tony sighed, running a hand over his face.

“How are you going to handle Morgan when she’s older? Honestly, I’m not really that bad. Morgan will probably have Pepper’s brains and your attitude.”

“What! No. She’ll have my brains and Pepper’s attitude.”

“Hmm. I don’t know. Maybe she’ll have your brains and your attitude.”

“Kid, honestly, we don’t have time for this. We need to give Cap and Nat some space to interrogate.”

“They can’t see me, I’m not in their way!”

A sudden tapping at the glass diverted their attention causing both of them to whip their heads around to see Steve giving them disappointed looks through the glass.

“Look.” He said. “I can’t see you, but I know you’re both in there and you’re both being really distracting.”

Peter reached out blindly and slapped the light switch on the wall, illuminating the darkened room so Steve could see them.

“I don’t mind you two watching, just, can you keep it down?” He asked, his features contorting a little in annoyance.

“Yeah, we were just going.” Tony said with a pointed look at Peter.

“Oh, but-“

“Now, Pete!” Tony called, already halfway out the door.

“Okay, Dad.” Peter whined sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he gave Steve a wide smirk as he stomped out of the room.

He hurried into the hallway and found Tony already halfway down, the older man walking quickly towards and exit door that led outside.

“Mr. Stark! Wait up!” He cried.

The man paused, looking back as Peter jogged lightly to catch up with him.

“Didn’t you want to stay and see what else the Mark could tell us?”

Tony looked slightly up at him, and shook his head.

“There’s no need, kid. I simply accessed his memory files. I already have all the information we need except for a few little things.”

“Wha- then why are cap and Nat interrogating him?”

Tony sighed and continued his walk, passing by the exit and continuing down the long hallway that Peter knew led to his lab.

“It’s the easiest way to see whether he’ll trust us or not.” He said, barely looking back at Peter as he did. “And whoever is behind this did not put a location on him, meaning we can’t track him back, so Cap and Nat will have to ask him where this ‘Master’ is located.”

Peter made a face at Tony’s back.

“And that was one of the ‘little things’?”

Tony sighed once again, and stopped in front of Peter, allowing the younger to catch up with him fully. He turned, facing him slightly, a small smile on his face.

“We finished building the machine, Pete. Rocket went over the formula for me.”

Peter looked away, feeling a little ashamed of himself.

“Sorry. I didn’t-“

“No, no! Pete!” Tony hurried, putting an arm over his shoulders, something Peter noticed the other man had to reach up to do now. “Not your fault, not your fault at all. I think, considering what you’ve been through the last few years you did extremely well. And, you’ve taken a significant break from the hero business, it’ll take some time to get used to it again.”

Peter looked down at him, and nodded, throwing his own arm over Tony’s shoulders. 

“Thanks, Tony.’ He said in a quiet voice.

To his surprise, Tony made an odd face as he called him that.

“Why the change?” He asked as he began to lead Peter toward his lab once again. “What happened to ‘Mr. Stark’?”

Peter looked ahead, thoughtful for a long moment.

‘I’m not sure.” He admitted. “I guess I just started thinking of you as Tony instead of Mr. Stark.”

Tony was silent by his side, but the man did drop his arm and shoved them into his pockets, something Peter forcefully restrained himself from mirroring. 

“Well, I guess it does make sense. I mean, you’re what? Twenty?”

Peter chuckled.

“No, not quite. A good little while until we get there. Eighteen.”

“Geez. Eighteen!” He sighed dramatically. “I remember you being a fourteen-year-old kid who I stole away and took with me to Germany.”

Tony seemed thoughtful for a long moment before he spoke again.

“I guess you’re not a kid anymore, Pete. I mean, watching you today, seeing how you stepped up, it was amazing to see you do that. You’re definitely not a kid anymore, so it makes sense that you should call me and refer to me the way other adults do.”

Peter looked over at him, and felt his smile fade a little as Tony frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

Tony sighed once again.

“I don’t know. I guess, I jus-“ He cut himself off as they arrived at the lab doors, pulling away from Peter’s arm too look him in the eye. “Pete. It just makes me realise that you won’t need me anymore.”

Peter stared at him, his mouth agape.

“I mean, you’re not a kid anymore, and there is only so much I can teach you about leadership. So, I guess, maybe, you should start looking to Steve for that kind of thing. I mean, you spent time together in DC, and you two seem to get along better than he and I ever did-“ The man rambled, only to be cut off by Peter.

“Woah, what?” Peter exclaimed, studying Tony carefully. “You thought I wouldn’t want you to mentor me anymore because I’m older?”

Tony narrowed his eyes, but nodded.

“What! No, that’s just stupid!” He said, waving his arms slightly. “And frankly, all due respect to Steve, but you’re twice the leader he’ll ever be! Tony, Mr. Stark, I want you to be my mentor. Hell, you’re basically my Dad at this point in time, why would I replace that?”

Tony seemed a little shocked by this, and continued to simply stare at hi, so Peter continued.

“Mr. Stark. You’ve been there for me through the years, and I know Steve is a good leader, really, but, I want to be like you! I can learn leadership stuff from him, sure, but when it comes to life and making choices, well, you’re the person I most admire! You turned your life around! You went from being, no offence, a pretty below average guy, to Ironman! You’ve saved so many people! You allowed yourself to fall in love with Pepper and you’re going to be an amazing Dad to Morgan. I know this because you’ve been an amazing Dad to me for the past few years.”

Tony stared at him for a moment longer, before words seemed to no longer evade him.

“Well.” He simply said, before collecting himself completely. “I can assure you, that is not what I expected to hear.”

Tony looked away, and Peter swore he saw his eyes mist a little, before he cleared his throat.

“Peter, you’re a great kid.” He said, his voice a little timid. “I’m honoured that you see me as a father figure. It’s not something I could have admitted even a year ago, but, having Morgan, and then finding you again, it just makes me realise how much you’ve come to mean to me over the years. I’m proud to say that you are my kid, Pete.”

“Oh.” Peter replied, feeling a few tears welling in his own eyes. “Wow. Um, thanks, Mr. Stark.”

Tony sniffed loudly.

“Okay.” He declared. “That’s enough for now, I’m too tired to keep on that track, but let’s continue this tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Peter agreed softly.

“Stark, Parker!” A voice called from the end of the hall.

They both turned to see Steve walking quickly towards them.

“You got something?” Tony called back as the man approached them.

“Yeah. Got a location. Rest up, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” He said, looking between the two, and, upon noticing that he had interrupted an important conversation, quickly apologised and took his leave.

Peter watched the man go, knowing in his heart, he would use this mission to make Tony proud.


	15. Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter. It's a busy time at work, so I've been basically living there for the last week. But, I hope you are able to enjoy this despite the wait! :)

The following night arrived quickly, and Peter found, to his slight dismay, that their team had grown by one. After the interrogation, he had followed Tony to his lab where they had looked over the Marks memory files, only to discover the humanoid had been undermining the master for years, albeit, unsuccessfully. And so now, they each sat inside the invisible Quin jet, hovering silently over The Masters lair. 

“Okay, team!” Steve called, getting their attention in the small cabin.

Peter sat on a bench next to Tony, on the other side of Tony, the Mark sat, nervously twitching his hands. Peter bit back the urge to make a mean jab at him, instead, he shook his head and looked up at where Steve now stood in the centre of the jet.

“Remember our mission and your partners. Nat, Quill, you two take out any guards outside of the building, then watch the perimeter. Got it?”

“Got it Captain America!” Quill responded eagerly, pulling out his Quad blasters as he did.

Nat rolled her eyes.

“Sure, Steve.” She sighed, a cautious eye on Quill.

“Peter. You, the Mark and I will infiltrate the building through a skylight in the roof. Once inside, we will locate and apprehend the Master.”

“Wait, we’re going with him?” Peter asked, not bothering to hide his disdain as he glared at the humanoid, leaning around Tony to do so.

“Yes, the Captain said I might be of value on this mission.” The Mark answered smoothly. “And please, call me Marcus.”

“Call me Marcus.” Peter mimicked under his breath, rolling his eyes and slumping back next to Tony.

“Peter.” Steve said a little sternly, “Marcus knows the Master well. And the Master will likely call him to himself once he realises he is on the property. It makes sense for him to come with us.”

Peter sighed dramatically, and looked over at Tony for support, only receiving a small head shake from the man.

“Fine.” He grumbled, reaching behind his ear and tapping the button to release his suit, hiding his expression behind his mask.

“Rocket, Tony.” Steve continued, pausing the look at Tony for a second, before turning to mostly address Rocket. “You two will assess the equipment used by the Master. Gather as much intel as possible and then dismantle whatever you can get your hands on.”

He turned to look back at Tony, slight worry showing in his face as he did.

“Make sure you stay suited up, we don’t know what he’ll do if we aren’t able to hold him down.” He cautioned quietly.

Tony just nodded as he stood and adjusted his ring, tapping a few times before disappearing behind the metal armour. Peter watched with some great curiosity as Steve stepped closer to Tony, and leaned in as if to speak into his ear. He spoke in a low voice, one that Peter knew the others would not be able to hear, but, with his enhanced senses, Peter heard every word.

“Tony, you sure you’re up for this? I know we haven’t been seeing eye to eye, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you hurt.”

“I’ll be fine, Steve.” Tony replied through his private comm, something Peter could only barely pick up. “Besides, the suit will fly me out if I have an attack or if my heart gives out.”

Peter tried his best not to react to those words, but he saw Steve visibly tense.

“What do you mean your heart?” he hissed. 

“Nothing, nothing.” Tony replied quickly, raising a hand slightly. “Just, had some issues with the old ticker, you know, nothing major. Nothing that will stop me from our mission.”

Peter watched as Steve rolled his eyes and stepped back, running and hand over his face as he sighed deeply.

“Okay, Rocket.” He called, turning to see the creature seated next to Quill. “Keep an eye on Stark, make sure he doesn’t get injured.”

“Aye aye.” Rocket said, aiming for sarcasm, but falling short as worry filled his voice.

“Nat, Quill. Go.”

Quill gave on last look to Rocket, but followed Nat’s confident walk to the edge of the jet, the doors now wide open, waiting for them to jump.

“We’ll report once the perimeter is secure.” Nat said before elegantly leaping out of the Jet, Quill trailing behind.

Steve turned to him.

“Peter, Marcus. Let’s go.” He ordered, casting a small look in the humanoids direction. “Make sure you both have your parachutes ready.” He reminded them as he adjusted his own.

“Oh, using parachutes, now are we?” Tony quipped from where he now lounged on the metal seat next to Rocket.

Peter watched as Steve bit back a small smile and shook his head.

“No water, Stark. My body recovers quickly from impact into water, but I don’t it’ll recover from becoming a –“

“yeah, okay!” Peter interrupted, adjusting the straps on his own parachute. “We get it.”

Steve laughed openly at him, and walked over to help him, before checking over Marcus’ shoot.

“Now remember, Marcus, you clear the room once we enter, then get the Master in and Peter and I will detain him.”

Marcus nodded, but bit his lip nervously nonetheless.

“You sure this Master will come just because you call for him?” Rocket inquired from his seat next to Tony.

Marcus looked over and pushed his shoulders back, all appearances of fear disappearing.

“Quite certain, Racoon man.” Marcus assured him, “He trusts me completely.”

“Perimeter secure.” Nat reported through the comms.

“Okay, let’s go.” Steve commanded, hustling his two charges to the edge of the jet. “Pete, Marcus, jump now.”

Peter ran and leapt out of the plane, biting back the urge to holler as the adrenalin pumped through him. He grinned to himself beneath the mask, but turned his head, watching the Mark out of the corner of his eye.

“Okay, release shoots.” Steve commanded.

Peter immediately pulled the lever on his chute and found himself no longer falling, but gently floating to the ground after a harsh tug. He could still see Marcus out of the corner of his eye, and became determined to keep a cautious watch on the humanoid throughout their mission. 

“Aim for the roof.” Steve reminded them, sounding a little breathless as he did, and Peter surmised the man was also gliding down close behind.

As silently as they could, the two landed on the roof, running a few steps before completely coming to a stop. Peter immediately shed himself of his shoot, and watched as Marcus did the same. Behind him, he heard the sounds of Caps feet also landing on the roof and felt a wave of comfort, knowing the man would be with them for the entirety of the mission.

“Okay.” Steve whispered once he was closer. “Get to the skylight.”

The three of them hurried, bent over at the waist as they hurried toward the illuminated and open skylight of the concrete building. They crouched around it, Peter staying as close to Steve as he could, making sure the Captain remained between himself and the Mark. Eager to see what they were up against, Peter peered over his shoulder and saw the room below. It was a large room, filled with being identical to the Mark who had apparently turned over to their side. Most of the Marks were bent over computers, typing away, others were rushing about the room, carrying out various duties. But Peter found that his eyes were drawn to the centre of the room, where something quite similar to the device Tony had created stood, only this device had a large, circle platform in from of hit.

“What is that?” He breathed, eye’s glued to the device.

“Transportation for teleportation and inter-verse travel.” Marcus supplied, his voice also quite low.

“Marcus, enter now and clear the room.” Steve whispered, his own eyes never leaving the device.

Marcus turned and hurried away without a sound. Peter watched as he soundlessly made his way to a doorway on the roof, one that Peter could only assume led to the room below. And so, he held his breath, waiting for the Mark to re-appear in the room below, his eyes now darting about to see if he would appear. Only a few seconds later, a door on the far side of the room opened, and the Mark appeared. It was only now that peter realised that they truly had hit the jackpot, as it seemed that this Mark was in charge of the others.

“Gentlemen!” he called in a monotone voice as soon as the door closed behind him. “The Master requires this room to be emptied immediately.”

There was no hesitation, as one, the Marks put down whatever they were working on and quickly abandoned the room, no sound other than footsteps made as they did so. Beside him, Steve chuckled to himself.

“Could use someone like him on the team fulltime.” He remarked, tossing Peter a small smirk as he did so.

“Yeah whatever.” Peter grumbled, still not overly happy with Steve, and a little green over the Mark. “Rooms clear, let’s just get in there.”

Steve laughed beside him, before jumping up and gliding through the hole in the roof. Without a moment’s hesitation, Peter jumped onto the framework and aimed his webbing down through the hole, catching Steve’s outstretched hand as he did so, and slowly, silently lowering the man to the floor. After he was lowered, he jumped through and silently landed on the floor beside Steve. Marcus was walking over to them, a determined glint in his oddly green eyes.

“I have contacted The Master. He is coming. I recommend you remain hidden until he lowers his guard. I shall signal you at the opportune moment.”

Steve nodded and grabbed Peter’s shoulder, pulling him back and into a shadowy corner of the room. They crouched together, both tense and ready to spring out at only a moments notice, something Peter had to physically restrain himself from doing when heavy steps sounded against the metal staircase.

“Mark. Report.” Came an odd, mechanical voice.

Marcus bowed and lowered his head as Peter saw the Master walk into the room, a mask fitted over his head as the rest of him was completely covered in layers of black.

“Master. I arrived at the compound as directed. I am sorry to inform you that I was unable to attain Stark.” He replied, never allowing his eyes near the Masters face.

The Master kept on walking across the room, his long strides determined and filled with power.

“Well now, that is unfortunate. You should count yourself lucky that I consider you far too valuable to throw away for such a failure. Tell me, why is it that you were unable to complete your task?” The Master asked, his mechanical voice smooth and chilling to peter’s ears.

The Master had arrived only a few feet away from the Mark and stopped, standing ominously over his humanoid. Even from where Peter was hidden, he could see an attack now would only result in failure.

“Master, I am terribly sorry.” Marcus apologised, his voice heavy with feigned sorrow. “But I arrived only to be confronted by a number of the avengers, and I thought it unwise to engage. So, I promptly re-opened the portal and jumped through several locations before arriving here, to ensure they were unable to trace me.”

“Hmm. Well, at least you had the decency to use that brain of yours.” The Master replied, stepping a little closer, well into Marcus’ personal space.

Peter’s senses went off, and turned, gripping Caps knee with perhaps a little too much power.

“Cap, somethings off.” He hissed as quietly as he could.

Steve nodded, and silently brought his shield up, covering them both.

“It was smart of you.” The Master continued, now only inches away from Marcus’ face. “Clearing out the room like this, using your authority, all to get me alone.”

Marcus lifted his head, looking the Master in the eye.

“Sir?”

The Master chuckled, then brought up a hand and pushed down on Marcus’ head, forcing him to look at the ground. Peter’s ears strained to hear the next words spoken by the Master.

“I know you betrayed me.” He hissed near Marcus’ ear. “You think I’m held back by distance? Please. I heard every word you told them. I know you brought them here.”

Marcus stumbled back, his robotic eyes blown wide as he held out a hand, keeping his eyes away from the Master’s face.

“No, Master!” He cried. “I would never! I have been with you from the beginning, I would never betray you!”

The Master chuckled lowly, and turned, looking directly at the spot that Peter and Cap were crouched in.

“I know you’re there, Captain.” He hissed, sending cold shivers down Peter’s arm. “You really thought I was dumb enough to send one of the Mark’s in alone?”

Suddenly, a knife appeared in the Master’s hand, seeming to slide out of his sleeve, and before he could stop himself, Peter lunged forward, out of their hiding spot.

“No!” he cried, but it was too late.

The Master spun and buried his knife deep within Marcus’ chest, causing the humanoid to cry out in pain as sparks appeared to fly out form his chest.

“Master, please!” Marcus spluttered, grasping his chest as the Master twisted the knife, the sounding of scraping metal filling the room as he did.

Peter ran across the room, eyes focused on the knife twisting within Marcus’s sparking chest. He would not allow it to happen again, no one would ever die on his watch.

“Step away from him!” He screamed swinging around and kicking the master in the chest, sending him flying across the room and crashing into some desks.

“Spider-Man!” Steve called, running over, shield ready. “Control yourself!”

Steve knelt down next to Marcus, the humanoid had collapsed as soon as the knife had left his chest, and now say, green eye’s flickering a multitude of colours.

“Marcus, are you with me?”

The machine gasped.

“Yes, captain.” He wheezed. “I am incapable of death outside of complete disassembly. The Master merely programed us with pain receptors to ensure our obedience.”

Across the room, the Master chuckled to himself, eerily standing as though he had not been thrown several feet.

“It seems that I should perhaps reconsider that approach Mark.” He hissed, grabbing his arm slightly, “I will tear you apart, limb from limb.”

Peter turned, watching with some horror as the man walked closer. And odd shine on the Masters leg caught his eye.

“Steve.” He whispered.

“Ah, yes. I suppose it is uncommon for your, well, victims to walk away from an attack, is it not young Spider?”

Peter glared at him, shoulders tense and hands fisted.

“You are not a victim!” He cried, walking forward slightly.

“You attacked me.” The Master replied cooly, head tilting behind his mask.

“You tried to kill Marcus!”

“He was going to kill me. I merely acted in self defence.”

Peter frowned a little, about to respond, when Steve cut in, still crouched next to Marcus. 

“Why are you here?” He demanded.

The Master assessed them silently, and, despite his thick mask, Peter felt his eye’s taking in every detail.

“I suppose you would like to know that.” He remarked, casually turning away from them and walking towards a still standing desk and typing away at a laptop briefly. “It all began many years ago.”

“Wait, you’re seriously going to tell us?” Peter asked incredulously. 

The Master lifted his head, and nodded.

“Why not? You’ll find out regardless of whether or not you are able to capture me.”

Peter looked over at Steve, who shared a doubtful look with him and shook his head.

“Rocket, Stark. Get down here.” He ordered quietly.

“Ah, yes. Get your backup to take the files.” The Master quipped, plugging a USB port into the laptop. “Shall I return to my story?”

Peter shook his head, however, the Master ignored him completely.

“You see, as Mark told you, my planet, my earth, was defeated by Thanos.” He began, voice bitter. “I lost everything. My wife, my son and my daughter.”

He looked up, directly at Peter.

“We could have stopped him, if they had just listened to me. I had a plan, I had the means to win. But they chose to not abide by my word. I had developed a suit of armour capable of destroy him, I even had allies from deep space who were willing to fight by our side. And yet, they told me I was crazy, my ego was too big, the I was un-necessary. We were defeated, easily. And so, rather than face another mass genocide across the globe, I rose up, I did what needed to be done. I took control because the safest hands are my own.”

“What are you doing on that laptop?” Peter asked, walking over, just as the sounds of Ironmans suit filled the room, lowering both himself and Rocket to the ground.

“Just copying the data from my schematics onto a USB to give to Ironman here.” He quipped, waving in Tony and Rockets general direction. 

“We already have our own dimension gate, Masky, step away from the computer.” Tony demanded, sauntering over to stand next to Peter, gauntlet raised and ready to fire.

“Tony.” The masked man drawled, “I would have thought out of everyone you would have understood my intentions the best.”

Peter looked at Tony, his masked face betraying nothing of the emotions inside. The Master sighed.

“I know of you, Stark. Your story is remarkably similar in each universe.” He stepped away from the laptop, yanking the USB out as he did, slowly gliding towards Peter and Tony. “Why do you allow these idiots to hold you back, they’ve done nothing for you. Think of how much you’ve lost, you deserve to be in control, you deserve to be happy, to be the reason your world is happy.”

Peter stepped forward, shielding Tony’s body with his own.

“Mr. Stark is far too intelligent to fall for that crap.” He hissed.

The Master ignored him, walking closer.

“Think of it Stark, you’ve already taken the first steps. Hell, you erased most of populations memories.”

“What?” Peter whispered, taken aback by the accusation “Mr. Stark, would never.”

“Hm. You clearly don’t know him all that well.” The Master continued, arriving a few steps away from them and continuing forward. “You even erased little Peter Parker’s mind didn’t you? Couldn’t stand for him to know that you let him and the entire world down. A foolish move, really, his enhanced healing factor would mean that by now he has surely begun to re-experience the trauma in dreams.”

Peter sucked in a breath, he knew exactly what the man was speaking of, but he hadn’t had those dreams in years. Slowly, he turned to face Tony, who was still completely masked.

“Mr. Stark? Did you mess with our memories?”

Tony remained still for a long moment, but, slowly lowered his palm as the Master cackled slightly. His helmet vanished into his armour, leaving his face bare to Peter, his shame and guilt obvious.

“What the fuck?” Peter whispered, eyes wide. “You messed with our heads?”

“Peter.” Steve piped up, leaving his place at Marcus’ side, “We had no other choice.”

Peter gasped, and stumbled back a little.

“You know as well.”

“I asked him to do it.” Steve admitted, his voice tight and earnest.

“Dude.” Rocket sighed, eye’s wide. “That’s pretty dark.”

“You didn’t know?” Peter asked, looking at Rocket, who shook his head, staring between Steve and Tony. “Who knew?” He demanded, looking back at Tony.

Tony did not respond immediately, instead, he simply lifted his chin and swallowed, closing his eyes for a long moment, long enough that Quill and Nat barged into the room, breaking the heavy atmosphere.

“No one checked in, we got worried!” Quill cried. “Woah, bad energy in here. What happened?”

“Mr. Stark erased the memories of every person on earth!” Peter cried as Quill’s eye’s widened and his jaw dropped. He turned back to Tony. “Who else knew?”

Tony lowered his head, his jaw tight as he looked at Peter for a long moment.

“Steve, Nat, Pepper, Fury and me.” He admitted in a tight voice.

Peter glared over at Nat.

“You knew.” He said, voice flat.

“Peter.” She said softly, keeping her gun ready. “I’m sorry. I really thought it was for the best.”

“An act of mercy. A compassionate leader, not the choice of the soldier, no matter what he says.” The Master chimed in, earning the hard glare of everyone but Peter, who was now curious of his motives to Tony. “Peter, your world was suffering. You were suffering, and Tony here did the best he could, ended their misery.”

The Master placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder as Tony’s glare hardened.

“Think of the good you could do for the multi-verse, Tony. So many people out there, broken and hurting because Thanos literally snapped away everyone and everything they ever loved.” He brushed past Peter, coming in closer to Tony. “You could heal them, Tony, make their pain disappear. It would be as if the universe were never hurt. As if Thanos never tore my family away. Mother’s would weep no more, nations re-built.” He leaned in closer, whispering. “World’s conquered.”

Tony remained perfectly still, staring past the Master’s shoulder and directly at Peter.

“Tony.” The Master continued. “You could rule it all, there is no better hand than your own. You have the brains and the means to make sure no one is every hurt again.”

“No.” Tony whispered over him. 

The Master stepped back, a little stunned.

“No? Stark, I knew you were a selfish man, but not to this extent. You have the power to release everyone on earth and in the multi-verse from the pain of their pasts and you refuse to do it You’ve done it once. Why not again? You could protect them, be their leader!”

“No.” Tony stated again, his face far stronger as Steve strode over to stand next to him in a show of support. “I was wrong to do it the first time, and Steve lied. It was my idea and I manipulated him into agreeing with me. I was wrong.”

“So what, you’d rather let the people of earth suffer in the misery of knowing they lost everyone?” The Master hissed, glaring at Tony.

Peter watched, wide eyed as he backed away.

“I was wrong.” Tony re-stated. 

The Master glared at him, before turning his eyes to Peter.

“You could have saved the boy so much pain, you know. He does not know that he died in your arms on that planet. You could have saved him if the others had listened to you all those years ago, if you had stayed together like you wanted them to.” He hissed. “You could have removed the boy’s memories of his parents deaths, his uncles death, he could have been happy!”

Peter’s head snapped up as he said this, a strong realisation dawning on him. Without hesitation, he returned to Tony’s side, ignoring the curious and slightly startled look the man gave him.

“You’re wrong.” He said. “Without those things, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

The Master stepped back once again.

“Mr. Stark was wrong to do what he did, but he’s smart enough to acknowledge his mistakes and fix them. Pain is horrible, and I wish no one had to experience it, but, in my own experience, it has made me stronger. Yeah, it hurts all the damn time, and I wish I could have them back, but I can’t forget them. I can’t risk it. Those memories mean too much to me. I loved all of those people, and Mr. Stark knows that. That’s why he will never join you.”

“Kid’s got a point masky.” Tony sneered, his metal plate returning to cover his face. “And you’re not bringing you’re shit philosophy to this world. Let’s take him down Avengers!”

The Masked remained still as the small group of avengers surrounded him, remaining silent and slightly too clam. Then, without any warning, he raised his hand and pressed a previously concealed gadget on his wrist, lighting up at the landing back and the doorway with a bright blue.

“Master, no!” Marcus cried.

Without further delay, the Marks poured back into the room, armed with guns. Masked figures stepped out of the doorway, walking down quickly to surround the avengers, more Mark’s following behind them.

“Shit, Cap.” Tony huffed through the comms, “Looks like that well thought out plan of yours has gone to crap.”

The group turned slowly, instinctively watching the enemy grow closer. The Master sneered from the centre.

“You really thought I wouldn’t have a backup, Stark? You’ve managed to keep ahead of me for years. Last year I finally snapped, when your kid found those signatures and killed my informant, I thought I was screwed. But here we are, you’re surrounded.” The man taunted, before walking closer to Tony, speaking softly over his shoulder. “Tony, imagine it, a universe without pain. That’s my goal. Nothing will ever happen like Thanos again. No orphans, no widows. No one would know pain. We can do it together; we can rule across the multi-verse. Join me, and I will abstain from attack.”

Peter turned his head ever so slightly, cringing as the Master whispered into the side of Tony’s headpiece, the image sent cold shivers up his arms.

“No.” Tony stated, his response resounding through the tense silence of the room.

“I suppose I will kill you then.” The Master sighed, stepping back.

With an air, he waved his hand. The reaction was immediate. The Marks and other masked figures ran forward, screaming and growling as they did, murder in the unnatural green on the Mark’s eyes, cold blooded hatred coming off in waves from the masked figures. One second they were meters away, the next, Peter was swinging across the room and kicking one of the Marks into the wall, growling angrily as the machine simply stood up and ran back at him. Commotion filled the air, and he could hear the sounds of Tony’s repulsors firing, Caps shield flying through the air and Nat’s gun being shot. In an odd way, it comforted him, knowing that despite his failings, Tony had no intention of simply rolling over and allowing a sociopath to rule their universe.

“Focus up Spider-Man!” Steve called out as his shield flew past Peter’s head, decapitating one of the Mark’s.

Peter spun, realising he had stopped in the middle of the fight to ponder over his mentor.

“Oh, thanks!” He cried, shooting up to the ceiling so he could get a better view of the fight below.

“Report what you see, kid.” Steve ordered, grunting as two Marks attempted to pin him down.

Peter arrived at the ceiling, and clung to it with his fingers and toes, watching the fight below with a dull sense of horror. They were desperately outnumbered, and they had been blind sided by the sudden arrival of the Marks and the Masked men. Despite their strength, it was obvious they were struggling simply due to sheer numbers and the strength of their enemy.

“They appear to be organised in their attack, Cap.” He reported, watching with an anxious mind as they attempted to corner Tony near a pole, one of them succeeding in ripping off one of his gauntlets, despite the nano suit immediately repairing itself.

“If I may.” Marcus intervened, having dragged himself to a distant corner, away from the fight. “The Master has ordered them to separate you all. Your best chance of success are to remain working as a unit. I may suggest, Spider-Man, the you remain the eyes of our operation, and take down any over powering threats when necessary.”

“Good call.” Steve cried, punching through the chest of another Mark. “Avengers! Stay together.”

“Argh!” Tony cried as two Marks pined him to a pole. “Pete, would you classify this as an overpowering threat!”

Peter gasped, crawling quickly across the room to be above where Tony was as more Marks appeared around him, using their sheer strength to over power his suit.

“Tony!” He cried. “I’m-“

“So-Help!” Quill cried from the opposite direction, causing Peter to turn, seeing him hold a limp Rocket in his arms. “Peter! Help!”

Peter froze, looking down at the injured creature, blood trickling out of his nose. They had to remove him immediately.

“Get to Rocket, I’ll assist Tony!” Nat cried, sprinting and fighting her way through to where several Marks were now dragging Tony across the room, battering the armour as they did, causing the suit to repair itself over and over.

Peter hesitated, his breath caught as he watched the push and beat Tony across the room, ripping off gauntlets and weapons as they did.

“Peter!” Quill cried. “I don’t have anything I can fly with on me! You need to get him outside!”

“Peter, go. We’ll get Stark.” Steve snapped, sprinting over to Tony, but being held back by masked figures and Marks as he did.

Looking down at Rocket, Peter knew he could never live with himself if he let the small creature die. So, with a deep breath, he swung down and scooped him into his arms, quickly returning to the ceiling.

As soon as possible, he ran across the ceiling towards the sky light, crawling out and onto the roof top, laying Rocket down as he did. He put his ear to his chest, relieved to find a heartbeat. Suddenly, a small flash of blue filled the room below, followed by a sudden and deathly silence. Frightened, Peter ensured that Rocket was safe, before crawling back to the skylight. He braced himself for a moment, before looking down. He frowned, the room was once again empty, save their own party. Steve, Nat, Quill and Marcus were staring at each other in some confusion.

“What happened!” Peter cried, resisting the urge to swing down, knowing he could not leave Rocket alone.

The others took a long moment to respond, each looking desperate and confused.

“They took him.” Steve said, his voice laden with defeat.

Peter felt his heart drop in his chest, and bile rise in his throat.

“W-what?” He whispered.

“They grabbed him and took him through the portal.” Quill added, his voice shaking.

Peter slumped back, landing roughly as he did.

“No.” He whispered, allowing his mask to fall back. A single tear escaped his eye. “No.”


	16. A Gut Feeling

Peter felt like he hadn’t slept in a week, and yet, every time he closed his eyes, he found that sleep evaded him. It had been a week since their raid of the Masters compound, and they were still no closer to recovering Tony than they had been when he had been taken. In that time, Rocket had recovered, although, he still admitted to feeling a little sore after receiving a rather nasty blow to the head. The racoon had been working tirelessly to try and trace where the Master could have taken Tony, but since there is an infinite number of universes, the tracing was taking a long time. And so, after day after miserable day, Steve finally made the call to take Peter home. And so, now he sat in the bedroom he had missed so much during his time away, clinging to an envelope that Steve had sadly placed in his hands before leaving him to the care of his aunt. 

He looked out of the window, seeing the grey sky, and feeling that he had once again, let Tony down. With a deep sigh, he looked back down at the envelope, and slowly tore it open. He was mildly surprised to find only a letter inside, given Tony’s history of over-the-top gifts, he had expected far more, but right now, he felt he didn’t even deserve this simple gift. He hesitated for a long moment, but eventually pulled the letter out and began to read the letter that had been dated nearly six months ago.

“Peter.

I’m sorry for how everything has turned out, I wish you were still here. God, I wish we hadn’t wasted a year being mad at each other, but, what can you do? 

Anyway, I’m sitting here waiting for Morgan to fall asleep, and I just thought, what if it was her? You know. What if she did what you did?

To be honest with you, I’d be heartbroken. I love her so much I can’t even begin to describe it. I look at her and I realise I have the responsibility of showing her how to be a decent person in a world that I’m pretty responsible for screwing up. She’s my kid, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. Same goes for you, Pete. You’re my kid.

I’m sorry that you think it’s all your fault. It’s not. You did what you needed to do and you saved hundreds of people from what could have been one massive disaster. You didn’t let me down. I’m proud of you, Pete. 

I just wish you hadn’t left, I wish you’d come and seen me, I could have told you that you didn’t let me down. 

We all miss you. Led, MJ, May, even Happy!

Please, come home soon.

Love you,

Tony.”

 

Peter let out a violent sob, his hand coming to his mouth as he read. He had spent nearly six months convinced that Tony hated him, that he had let the man down. And yet, the man had embraced him and encouraged his return. He was the father he had always wanted, far from perfect, but a good man, and that was all he could hope to be himself.

Something like hope and determination ripped through him, causing him to sit up and wipe away his tears. They would find Tony. He could feel it in his bones, they would find his mentor and save the multi-verse. If Tony believed in him, he knew he could do it.

 

Pepper sat at the kitchen table, Morgan fast asleep in her arms, Nat and Steve sitting across from her. All of them, save Morgan, teary eyed.

“Pepper, I’m so sorry. We tried out hardest.” Steve offered softly, his lip shaking a little. “But despite everything, we were over-powered.”

Pepper just nodded, averting her eyes and staring at a plant across the room for a few seconds, attempting to compose herself.

“Pepper.” Nat chimed in gently, “We will find him. We’ll bring him home.”

Pepper sniffed, and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and running a hand over Morgan’s head.

“I know you will.” She said shakily, returning her eyes to them. “And I’ll be there every step of the way.”

 

Quill stood in the hangar of the Avengers compound, carefully watching as Rocket tinkered away on some watch like devices near their dimensional portal. He frowned slightly, loathed as he was to admit it, but he was worried about his friend. He was worried about all of them. They had taken Tony’s disappearance poorly, each becoming emotional in the face of defeat, something that he had been surprisingly clear headed about, probably due to the fact that out of each of them, he had the smallest connection to Stark, having only fought with him once on Titan. But he had watched on as Rocket recovered from his injury, remaining gloomy upon realising his friend was missing, keeping to himself and even refraining from his usual insults. But despite this, he had a feeling it would be okay, he couldn’t explain it, but he had a feeling that they would be able to defeat the masked creep. Everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final book in this series is coming soon!


End file.
